Transformers Animated: Season 4
by Taismo-89
Summary: Months after the events on Earth (Season 3), the Autobots's adventures continue, as old enemies come back and a new member, the kind and mysterious Starshine, joins Optimus Prime's team. So roll out with Team Prime in a brand-new trail of episodes. Transformers Animated and all its original characters belongs to Hasbro and Cartoon Network.
1. Episode 00 (short): Back Home

_We are currently back to the same place we were when the space bridge lightened up and we found the AllSpark. Orbital cycles passed, and Ultra Magnus is still recovering from Shockwave's attack. In the meantime, Sentinel assumed as Magnus. But honestly, things aren't going so well since he took over._

 _The team still maintain the look they had on Earth. And they had work as hard and ever to keep fixing the space bridges and keep the Decepticons on Trypticon. Somehow, some troops always manage to distract the Mini-con guards and escape. Plus, there are still many to capture. They're spread all over, and that would include Starscream's other clones. We recently helped an retired veteran to keep Team Chaar away from the energon farm he moved to._

 _But enough of bad news for now. Let me talk about the team._

 _Sari's quickly adapting to Cybertron. Her abilites are getting better everyday, and so does her intelligence. Recently, she found Blurr and helped her classmates defeat some kind of Kremzeek creature. She told me how better her relationsship with her friends Nightbeat, Siren and Hosehead. But also brought back questions about her origin._

 _Ratchet is spending most time with the team, and judging how it's getting harder to stop the troops, it's great for them to have the team's medic nearby. Also… he and Arcee had become closer than ever. I remember them together in the Gladiatorial Arena, when those Stunticons performed. Sure, that was all a trap to try freeing Megatron, but that's another story, and basically, it didn't worked._

 _About Bumblebee… well, I must admit Prowl's departure scarred us all… but he was the most scarred. Despite the feuds and disagreements, they had a very close bond._

 _We all agree to refuse that Prowl's body was destroyed, so we transferred it to a special sanctuary we built in his honor. If it wasn't for him… the AllSpark would have never been completed. Bee always tries his best to not show he's still suffering, but honestly, it's clear._

 _And not only about Prowl… I have the feeling that deep in his circuits, his own feelings for Sari have… changed._

 _Well, I believe that's all to report by now. We are now in an unusual time of quietude… but something tells me it's not gonna last long_.


	2. Episode 01: Jailbreak - Part 01

On Cybertron, the pacific day of all Bots was interrupted by the attack of Sunstorm and Ramjet, Starscream's clones.

"Stop right there, you two!" Optimus Prime's voice was heard. In his vehicle form, he was being followed by Bumblebee and Bulkhead. "Your place is in the Trypticon Prison! Surrender and we'll take it easy on you!"

"Even thoguh Autobots sometimes keep promises, I humbly doubt that!" Sunstorm menaced, as he and Ramjet took flight.

"Oh, no, you don't!" Bumblebee guaranteed, accelerating after them. Ramjet flew higher, knowing there was no way for him to follw them. However, that was planned.

"Surprise!" Sari attacked them with her hammer, knocking one Decepticon on top of each other. Bulkhead attacked from down there, knocking them both off guard, and with no way out.

"That did not hurt a bit!" Ramjet proclaimed, always lying.

"Another excellent capture, team." Optimus pointed out. "I'm sure Sentinel will be happy to see these two back on their cells." There were Bots surrounding them, and cheering.

Sentinel and the Elite Guard arrived soon to take the prisoners. The self-proclaimed Magnus not even congratulated them, while the Jet Twins took the clones away.

"Groovy, chaps." Jazz commented with a smile. "These two will get extra pairs of cuffs." Then, he noticed the worrying on Optimus's expression. He sure knew what was pasing through the team leader's mind. "The medics are doing their best, Optimus. We must keep our heads up, dig?"

* * *

The Autobots, after one more mission accomplished, returned to their home base.

"Phew! Is it just me or it's getting even harder to take them down?" Sari's helmet vanished as she wiped the sweat off her face. "I think my jetpack may need an upgrade for quicker attacks."

"Well, at least you caught that troop faster than the last one," Ratchet informed. "But hey… where's the kid?"

"Where else?" Bulkhead pointed out. "Paying a visit to the ninja bot."

Improbable as it was, it was true: in a sanctuary, not far from the Autobots' location, Bumblebee entered to find the deactivated Prowl. It was the team's asking, but mostly his, for Prowl's body to remain intact. The yellow Bot sat crossing his legs, and look at the deactivated Bot's coffin.

"It's me again. We just arrested two Decepticons. Those two Starscream clones. But there are a lot missing yet. Everyone's struggling to find them. Oh, and Ultra Magnus is still recovering." Bee muttered, in a sad tone. "Optimus is really worried about him. And about the Bots in Cybertron as well. I mean, Sentinel "Magnus" is clearly not in conditions of leading."

The yellow bot stared at the deactivated Bot. Deep down, he missed Prowl… but he didn't told much to the team. Not that he didn't trust them, but… he just didn't felt like doing it.

"I wish you were here to see how things are doing… And I… I guess you're the only one that could help me..." A subtle call interrupted his deep thinking.

"Bumblebee, we need your help here. Sari and Bulkhead are waiting for you to repair the space bridge." Optimus's voice was heard.

"I'm on it, boss." He answered, finishing the conversation. "Gotta go, Prowl… see ya next time, I guess." One thing was sure: Bee had many scars to heal from, and the past events on Earth left a part of him shattered. And just the fact of not acting like himself was disturbing the young Bot.

* * *

On Earth, Starscream's body have been carried to the frontier of Detroit, by no other than Slipstream. She had spent the past Earth months fixing her leader in secret.

"Despite me and you having certain things to discuss… I can't deny that without you I don't have much else to go." She spoke, as she fixed the cracks on his body. "I am sure they won't be searching for me here, since they pretty much think they won. Those foolish Autobots haven't found ALL the AllSpark fragments thanks to us, clones, being spread all around. But something tells me you're going to need this..." She observed a small fragment she have been carrying with her far away from Earth.

* * *

Bumblebee, Sari and Bulkhead worked hard as they could. Bee's mind still remained lost in his questions.

"So… Sari, I heard you're progressing a lot with Arcee and your classmates." He tried to open a conversation, since that was getting boring.

"Sure did. Since I found Blurr and helped get him back in one piece, Nightbeat and the others have been treating me a lot better."

"I'm glad to know they accept a bit more your origins."

"Yeah, speaking of that… I can't stop but wondering how my protoform got onto Earth in the first place."

"Now that you mention it… We never actually stopped to think about it."

"Well, I think about it every day. I really wish I knew." She sighed, as she looked down. Bee placed a servo on her shoulder.

"Look, if that's still bothering you, I- uh, WE can try hepling you find out." He tried cheering her up. "We're a team. A family. We'll listen to you." The yellow Bot felt happy by seeing Sari smiling. But inside he questioned himself what happened there.

However, as Sari moved some rocks aside, she felt her energy flowing on something behind the scraps around the place. As she moved them off her way, she gasped at what she saw. "Guys! Look at this!" Sari called for her fellow robots. Bumblebee and Bulkhead looked to see… a Bot. A girl Bot.

Its optics were illuminated, but they were closed as if she was in a stasis nap, and her body remained immobilized. Her chest had a wound that healed in a short time.

"A girl Bot. What is it doing here?" the yellow Autobot wondered. Then, he took a look at her chest. "No emblem." The girl Bot seemed to whimper in fear, as if it was having a nightmare.

Sari then looked up to her head. There was a small symbol on her helmet: a star.

"We better get help for her. I know the right Bot for this." Once the two agreed on helping, they struggled to take her out of that pile of scraps.

* * *

In Jazz's dojo, with the help of the AllSpark Matrix, the girl Bot's body was completely restored. The team approached the Bot, that slowly started to move and regain color. As she opened her optics, her blurry vision adjusted.

"Hello!" Bulkhead looked up to the girl Bot. She gasped in surprise, and tried moving her legs, but the way she moved made her fall off the platform. "Oops. Sorry."

"Don't mind him. He's ugly but won't bite." Bumblebee offered a help for her to stand up. However, a few steps after standing up, she fell down again.

"Your parts are still a bit rusty, so don't expect much." Ratchet alerted, as the girl Bot sat back on the platform. "Hmm… astonishing. Her body is composed of Autobot and Decepticon technology. She possesses wings and arms of a Decepticon and the rest is fully Autobot."

"You mean… she's a hybrid?" Sari asked.

"Not precisely, but something like that."

"Maybe that apply as well to her optics. In Earth, humans wold call it heterochromy." Sari pointed out. The right optic was blue and the left one was red. "Hey, the star-shaped symbol is glowing."

"I don't have explanation for this event, but now that she's awake, perhaps we can analyze her memory bank and see if we can find out something about her." The girl Bot feared a bit when the medic Autobot approached her.

"Hold on a minute, Ratchet. She looks awfully scared." Optimus observed the fear on the Bot's face. "Considering the state she was when you found her, she possibly passed by some kind of trauma or was wounded in battle."

"Well, maybe she just needs to get her groove back before answerin' anything." Jazz pointed out.

"I know. Let's take her for a walk. Maybe she'll remember something and get a little more open to us." Sari suggested.

"I think that's a good idea. Bumblebee, Sari, do your best to make her feel as good as possible." optimus asked.

"Don't worry, boss. She'll soon feel at home." Bee guaranteed, as the girl bot simply blinked in response.

* * *

In the vault of space, Thundercracker unsucessfully tried to locate a safe place to land, tired of floating around.

"Oh, to think we've been floating for eternity on an unknown spot of this dreadful dark place!" Skywarp lamented. "Who knows where we can land?"

"Not that nonsense speaking again, Skywarp! I am also not happy at all about the situation, and this is disturbing my perfection." Thundercracker growled.

"That's all you can think of, right?! Can't you see we're in terrible condition and lost forever, and we will never be able to return?!"

"Pipe down, you!" Thundercracker growled. Then, an sudden attack made Skywarp shriek and hide behind the egomaniac clone.

"Salutations, Seekers. I live again!" Starscream greeted. "If you both stopped picking on each other, we have work to do."

"I am not returning to Earth!"

"No, fool. We're going to Cybertron, and freeing the Decepticons." Starscream explained. "Join me, Seekers, and we shall triumph over those weak Autobots once and for all!" As he flew away, Thundercracker soon pushed Starscream out of theway, and rthey both started discussing over leading the way. Slipstream took a while, but reached Skywarp, that got in a defensive position.

"I assume you'e not happy to see me, right?"

"U-uh, sure, I am, S-Slipstream, but… oh, I think I'm not okay. Wait! Don't leave me alone!" The coward Starscream tried reaching the other two, that were waaay far.

"You're not the only one..." The female Seeker muttered. Something inside her felt… different.

* * *

Back to Cybertron, Bumblebee and Sari took their new "friend" to meet the surroundings.

"Bumblebee, Sari, got anything from our silent friend?" Optimus called for them.

"Earlier than we thought." Sari admitted. "Apparently her name is… Starshine. and as far as we've been, she seems to like being in the frontier. Not a very social Bot, apparently." She and Bee saw the girl Bot climbing up to a high spot and sit there, watching the sky. "We gotta go. We'll call you back."

The two reached for the girl, as she remained motionless.

"It's beautiful..." she said, with her soft, serene voice. "All this imensity of… luminous points… Who knows how far they are, or if they're close..."

"You have a really… peculiar interest on stars." Bumblebee commented.

"Well… I've always felt… safe when watching them," Starshine sighed. "But I can't… remember why..." She held her head in pain.

"Hey, don't force yourself," Sari alerted. "We can help you in this case… if you just let us." Starshine blinked to her, but gave her a short smile.

* * *

Back to the ship, Star's mind was plugged into Omega Surpreme's computer.

"Well, her memory bank is a bit messed up, but I'll try getting something." Ratchet analyzed each of the images he could find. Then, one of them called Bumblebee's attention.

"Wait. Turn that image back." Ratchet did it so, and as the resolution got better," Bee gasped. "That's… that's the sector where I was activated. I remember so well."

"You think maybe she was activated there too?" Sari wondered. "Hm… would that make her somehow Bee's sister?"

"Not exactly. Many Bots are built on the same sectors, and even with the same kind of templates," Optimus explained. "Bumblebee's template, by the way, is the most popular one."

"Well, I for one would like to have a sister." Bee smiled over the opportunity. "Think about it: someone I can teach about racing, tell stories about defeating bad guys, how to kick Decepticon' skinplate..."

"Speaking of Decepticons, you will not believe the images I collected." Ratchet pointed to the screen. He pointed to the images that remained blurry. One seeemd clearer than the other.

The clearer image showed, through her point of view, herself opening her optics and being watched by Shockwave and Blitzwing.

"Shockwave? Blitzwing?"

"I'm confused. The sector where I was activated is located where the Autobots live," Bee pointed out. "That deosn't make any sense."

"I assume she WAS activated there, but she was taken to the Depecticons' lab," Ratchet suggested. "The blurry image has nothing well defined, but has sound as well." The team heard sonds of crashing and explosions.

"That would make sense," Sari added. "Let's see what we can find."

Traveling through Star's memories, they watched another one that showed Star walking by a hallway. Star flinched as she remembered.

 _She walked by the hallway, hoping to get a good spot for the appointent that was coming._

" _That is my spot, weakling! Ze wimps are ze last qualified!" Blitzwing commented. She gulped in fear, and moved to another place, but was pushed aside._

" _Move over, short stuff," a voice demanded. It was Lugnut. "This is my spot to listen Lord Megatron's plan!"_

" _Why don't you mess with someone your own size? If you CAN find someone like that, Lugnut..." That voice… it was Starscream! As Lugnut turned around to leave, Starscream turned to Starshine. She whimprered in fear. "It's okay. They won't bother you." He offered a hand to her. she took his hand, smling with certain shyness._

The Autobots could not believe what they just watched.

"Okay… that was shocking." Sari pointed out.

"I never thought I would see Starscream being nice to someone that wasn't himself," Optimus pointed out.

"Starscream..." Star commented, as she remianed with her eyes closed. The team turned back to her. "He… he was different back then… he was… my friend… my only f-friend..."

The team then saw the image that came to the screen. Another memory.

 _Starshine and Starscream watched as the Decepticons left to fight the Autobots. They were by themselves on the ship._

" _Well, looks like we have the Nemesis to ourselves," Starscream examined._

" _Yes… I'm just… sad I wasn't chosen to go with them," Star looked up. "I tried my best on training, but Megatron… keep looking at me as if I was… irrelevant."_

" _I for one think you did great."_

" _I just want… so hard to know how it is away from this place. I mean, there... in the deepness of space… maybe even... reach the stars..."_

" _Don't worry, there's always next time," Starscream placed a hand on top of hers. "And about the stars… I'm sure you'll reach them someday."_

" _Starscream..." She commented, as they looked up to the starry sky. She eventually laid down near him._

"Aw..." Bulkhead commented. "But if Starscream was so nice then… what happened?" Star flicnhed as another memory came to her.

 _Star remained hidden while the lab' doors remained closed. She was told by Starscream to be. Then, she saw Shockwave and Megatron walking out of there._

" _I thank you for alerting me, Shockwave. You're proving yourself worth it of secretive missions."_

" _Yes, my master. No betrayers shall be hidden from you."_

" _Betrayers?" Star wondered. "What was he talking about?" Then, she saw Starscram walking out. "Starscream!" She rushed to him. "Are you okay?"_

" _Excuse me, please. I have better things to do." He said, as he walked away._

" _Starscream… what happened? What they did to you?"_

" _He won't answer to you no more, Starshine." Shockwave looked at her, as he turned around. "You no longer exist on his spark."_

" _No..." Star gasped. She trembled, falling to her knees._

" _Looks like I found the other betrayer I was told about." Megatron's voice called her attention. Shockwave grabbed her wrists._

" _Indeed, they were both as I said, planning to take over the Nemesis and expell you."_

" _What?! I would never do this!" Star scolded, offended by that accusation._

" _You really think this cute face can trick me?" Shockwave lied, as he looked at her with his only optic. Star closed her optics, feeling her spark beat intensely._

" _Leave me ALONE!" She growled, as her star symbol glwoed intensely._

" _What in the name of..." Megatron saw the powerful glow. It wasn't like anything he ever seen, not even in Megazarak's era. Starshine kicked Shockwave away, and turned to Megatron, with her power seemingly flowing all over her body. It was like her spark was possessing her._

" _You caused pain to my friend… to the only friend I ever had. I will never forgive you for this! I will not allow you to hurt anyone else!" Starshine made her words firm as never before._

" _So you want to fight?" Megatron called for his weapon. "You will regret this action, that I assure." Their fight was well-balanced for a while, with Star's unusual speed and training moves keeping her safe. Megatron however, started to fear when her energy overflew, and her star symbol started to crack._

 _Quickly thinking, as she charged to attack, he impaled his swords into her spark chamber._

The last image the team saw was her optics going off. This concluded the images the team collected, and Star opened her optics gasping.

"What by Primus was that?" Ratchet was stunned. "I've never seen such power coming from one single Bot."

"You saw Megatron's face?" Sari pointed out. "He was totally scared of her." Then, they heard someone punching the walls.

"Shockwave… I can't stand to hear his name!" Bumblebee scolded. "I hate him so much right now words can't even say what I'm feeling!" He continued punching the walls, until Optimus placed a hand on his shoulder.

"We certainly have a huge burden against Shockwave, Bumblebee, but now he's in prison. He won't cause any more trouble." He said, trying to calm Bee down. The yellow Bot sighed, and looked at Star.

"Well, now that we know what happened to her, what should we do?" Bulkhead asked. Optimus looked at Starshine: she seemed saddened.

"Let's keep her!" Bee said, holding Star's hands. "I mean, as a member of our team. She was activated in the same sector I did. She was really meant to be an Autobot! Now that the Decepticons are on Trypticon, they won't hurt her anymore. Please, boss, say she can stay in our team." He looked at Prime with pleading eyes.

Star smiled at Bumblebee, then looked at Optimus. He gave her a short smile.

"What do you think, Starshine?" He said, with kindness, offering a hand. "This can be a great chance for you to try a different path. I guarantee you will be part of a team that really appreciate your efforts. Would you like to join us?"

Star looked at him, and after blinking twice, she moved, but instead of shaking his hand, she embraced the Autobots' leader.

"Heh. I think that's a yes." Ratchet couldn't hold back a smirk at the girl Bot's innocence. Optimus placed a hand on her back, accepting the hug. Bee squealed of excitement. Now he had a sister, and the team had a new member.

* * *

On Trypticon Prison, the alarms rang. Starscream and the Seekers had invaded that sector. With their blasters shooting out, they invaded the exact sector where Megatron and the toher Decepticons were, and had unabled the Minicon guards.

"Starscream?!" Shockwave couldn't believe his only optic. "You're active! But how?"

"It needs more than a fool Autobot pulling out my AllSpark fragment to defeat me." He said, blasting off the controls, opening Shockwave and Lugnut's cells.

"Freeing us for vat reason?" Blitzwing asked. "Think we'll respect you for ziz?"

"What about having a chance of revenge against the Autobots? Or you can be here forever with the leader that lost for a Bot that wasn't even a Magnus." His stare at Megatron made the Decepticon leader growl.

"Wait, what? I thought you said we were freeing Megatron from Trypticon!" Slipstream pointed out.

"Oh, my simplistic female Seeker, the plan will suffer a drastic change! If the all-mighty Megatron could not win from a weak team of Autobots, what right he possess to be leader of the Decepticons?!" Starscream bragged. "No, no, I have better plans for our faction! And our first step is freeing our comrades!"

"As always you are correct, my glorious leader." Sunstorm affirmed, as Skywarp opened his cell and Blitzwing's. "It is a delight to see you again."

"I don't agree." Ramjet pointed out, walking out of Sunstorm's cell.

"I cannot believe you will listen to him!" Megatron protested.

"I'm sorry, Megatron, but as you can see, I'M in command of the Decepticons now. First we take over the Autobots, then Cybertron, then the universe!" Starscream flew in front, beign follwed by the others.

"Although he do have a point… why do I feel so reluctant?" Slipstream asked herself, as she followed them.

 _To be continued..._


	3. Episode 02: Jailbreak - Part 02

The team awaited for Ratchet to come out of the lab. He, Bulkhead and Star were locked there for a while. Then, all of a sudden, the lab door opened and the medic bot wiped his hands.

"Well, it costed a long time, but she's ready to go out and see the world," he said. "Come on, girl. Don't be shy." Starshine appeared, escorted by Bulkhead, and the team was delighted: her paint job shone brightly and healthily, the wounds on her arms were completely repaired, and her wings were carefully tucked away for safety.

"Now that's what I call an improvement," Sari complimented "You've really outdone yourselves."

"She chose herself the pieces she wanted, apparently Bumblebee's Earth mode impressed her," Bulkhead commented.

"Heh, what can I do if she has good taste?" Bee commented.

"What gave me more trouble however, were her wings. I had to made them retractable so she could stop stumbling around when she walked," The medic bot commented as she demonstrated.

"Then, they can come out when she needs them," Optimus commented. "Pretty much like mine." He showed her his own wings.

"You medics should deserve more attention. You work so hard to help bots of all kinds," Star complimented. Ratchet let out a chuckle out at the commendment of his efforts.

"Trust me, girl. It is better to be an unknown hero."

"So, I assume you're ready for going out and seeing Cybertron tomorrow?" Bee invited Star. With a nod, she agreed. "It's gonna be awesome!" As he changed to vehicle mode, however, he noticed a frown on Star's face.

"Uh… Why she didn't transform?" Bulkhead asked.

"That's another thing I need to warn," Ratchet explained, as Bee reverted to robot mode. "While I analyzed her, I discovered that Megatron's swords not only impaled her spark chamber, but also her transformation cog. In other words, she can't transform into any vehicle." The team was surprised, and Bee gasped.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, Star. I-I didn't meant to, I-" He tried apologizing, but Star's hand stopped him.

"It's okay, Bee, really. You didn't offended me. It's not like I could transform anyway." Star assured.

"Well… but you still wanna see everything tomorrow?"

"Of course, "big brother"." Star chuckled. Bee smiled, comforted, and the team smiled as well.

* * *

Far away from there, Starscream and the Decepticons awaited for Slipstream's return. A purple-colored Elite Guard ship landed, and Swindle walked out, along with two Starscream clones, one green and yellow and the other, completely red.

"You've got a lot of nerve coming back, after what you pulled," Lugnut commneted.

"Salutations, Swindle. I believe Slipstream clarified the great plans I formulated once she found you," Starscream greeted.

"Yeah, yeah, she did. And made some serious wreck on my ship. But let's talk about business," The salesmech clapped twice, calling for the clones that followed him. "These clones were only possible to be made thanks to the genetic signature and cloning techniques I acquired. You can say this salesmech has learned a few new tricks to gain customers. Their names, by the way, are Dirge and Thrust."

"You made a magnifecent job. These two are so admirable," the sycophant clone commented.

"I don't wanna know what these two represent from Starscream," Ramjet commented.

"Not fair! Why do they have the right to question?" Thrust commented.

"The best team position is mine, and no one takes my place," Dirge decided. "Mine!"

"Asked and answered," Starscream commented. "But I will only believe their efficiency once I see them in battle."

"I promise you, new Decepticon leader, you will be surprised with what these two have," Swindle guaranteed. "Now about the compensation..."

"You can have the honors of testing your new weaponry once we catch those foolish Autobots' attention."

"In these hard business times, I'm taking any opportunity." Swindle agreed.

* * *

On the ship, all the team had retired to their rooms. Bumblebee was going to be the last one, but then he noticed Star was on the top of the ship, stargazing again.

"Star? Are you okay?"

"Yes… I told you I felt comfortable watching the stars..." Star assured. Bee climbed up and sat close to her.

"You… feel lonely?" Bee asked.

"No… I'm fine. I was just… remembering..."

"... you learned what happened to Starscream now, right?"

"Yes… but that was no longer the Starscream I met once. My friend was destroyed a long time ago. I miss him, but there's nothing else I can do."

"Then..."

"Sometimes, you don't have a reason to feel sad. You just do, and it ceases after a while," Star affirmed. Bee nodded, and they started stargazing together.

"Oh, I have something for you," he said, showing her a box. "It took me a while to find the right kind, but… there you go." Star gasped in pleasant surprise: it were two Stingers, similar to Bee's. And already with her arm color. "If you're gonna be part of our team, you'll have to defend yourself."

"That's really nice, Bumblebee," Star commented, with a happy smile. "Thank you." She hugged him again, startling him.

"Heh. I'll never get used to that."

* * *

The next day, Optimus and Ratchet got an early call from Jazz. He wanted to see them in Trypticon. Sari, Bee and Bulkhead were more than ready to show everything great on Cybertron.

Then, as they walked by the Jet Twins, that were taking a sip of fresh Energon, their optics got locked on Starshine.

"Wow… who is beautiful bot there?" Jetfire asked, as he and Jetstorm got closer.

"Never saw such good looks in training."

"Oh… um, thanks.. I guess." Star looked away with a shy smile. Sari chuckled, and Bee pouted.

"Have you been here long? Never really saw you around."

"Where your insignia is? Never been at Boot Camp?"

"I like your smile, is cute."

"Optics good-looking as we-"

"Okay, you two! Stop bugging her already!" Bee spoke up, showing his Stingers. "Man…" he commented, as she pushed Star to go on.

"What's up with them?" Bulkhead asked, while Sari held back her laughter. The twins sighed together.

* * *

Sari showed the Metroplex to Star, and they soon met Arcee with her classmates.

"Oh, that must be the delightful young Bot you helped. I'll be more than happy to help her as well." The teacher Bot complimented the young Bot, making Star a bit shy.

"Hm… Autobot and Decepticon parts that blend together." Nightbeat analyzed it with her magnifying glass. "Amazing."

"Um-"

"Where are your wings?" Hosehead asked. "Sari said you had wings."

"Uh-"

"WOW! I really like your colours! Where did you got such a bright painting?!" Siren spoke out loudly. Star fell down, startled.

"Okay, easy, guys," Sari commented.

"I'm not that much, really…" Star said, rubbing her arm.

"Don't be so hard on yourself," Bumblebee said. "I know the Decepti-creeps told you otherwise, but they didn't knew better."

"He's right. You will have now friends that truly appreciate you," Arcee assured with a smile.

"Thanks… but I still feel a bit worried… that curse I carry can be dangerous..." Star commented.

"Trust me, girl. Nothing able to scare Megatron should be called a curse." Sari tried to cheer her up. Star gave her an unsure smile.

* * *

Optimus and Ratchet visited Trypticon Prison, and witnessed the mess left.

"So, yesterday while we were busy with Starshine, there was a jailbreak?" The medic Bot asked. "I wonder why we weren't warned about the runaway Decepticons..."

"It was Sentinel's time of interrogate the prisoners," Jazz explained.

"Sure… covering up stories like always. I'm glad you called us, Jazz," Optimus said, seriously staring at the self-proclaimed Magnus.

"They caused a lot of trouble, but didn't bothered to free their boss," the Cyber-Ninja pointed out. Megatron remained locked on his cell.

"Well, then we have the most valuable testemony to the jailbreak," Optimus commented.

"All right, Decepticon scum, spill it out!" Sentinel scolded, knocking on the cell's energy door. "Where did your friends ran off to?!" Megatron grunted, refusing to answer.

"Please, any information is essential. Even from a Decepticon." Optimus stepped forward.

"If I can't do anything now… what much of a choice do I have?" Megatron sighed. "He's not worthy of leadership, yet my fellow Decepticons managed to stab me in the back and follow him…"

"We all know even your faction isn't fully reliable," Team Prime's leader asked. "Who freed them and left you?"

"Just the betrayer Bot that stranded me on Earth in the first place."

"What?! Starscream?" Ratchet gasped.

"But that's impossible! I remember he was deactivated on Earth!" Optimus commented.

"Hm… I guess I'm diggin' somethin': when me and Prowl gathered the AllSpark fragments to help on that plan, we could not find them all. Guess some bot kept one of these with itself, and brought Starscream back." Jazz thought.

"Worst idea ever. If he is back, I think we have a big problem," Optimus decided. "I'm gonna gather my team."

"Just don't feel bad if the Elite Guard captures him first," Sentinel proclaimed. "Jazz, call the twins and Blurr." As the two left, Optimus turned to the Decepticon leader.

"Don't expect them to go easy on you for now on… but thank you, Megatron," Optimus said, before leaving with Ratchet.

"Just give that betrayer what he deserves," Megatron huffed.

* * *

Starshine tried flying, following Sari's guidance.

"Okay, try to maintain this rhythm. No hurrying," The girl explained. Star felt confident at first, but as she tried landing, she couldn't get her wings to close, and ended up landing forcefully, with her face on the floor.

"Well, her flying is good… only her landing is a problem," Bumblebee came closer, as Star shook her head.

"I'm still not controlling my new parts properly." Star commneted. "Maybe that boot camp the Jet Twins commneted could be a good idea."

"Nah, you'll do better without Sentinel yelling at you all the time." Bee assured. "What about I teach you how to use your Stingers, hm?"

"I-am-sorry-to-interrupt-whatever-you-are-doing-but-I-just-got-a-call-from-Jazz-warning-about-a-jailbreak-and-Decepticons-escaping-and-I-am-sure-that-Optimus-Prime-would-appreciate-your-help-so-I-came-over-to-get-you-for-him!" Blurr came over, speaking fast as always, cutting their chat. "Got-that-so-far?"

"A jailbreak? That is not good," Star commented, and Bee and Sari looked at her.

"You got what he said?!" Sari asked.

"Oh-so-that's-your-little-sister-Jetfire-and-Jetstorm-told-me-about. Really-cute-if-she-don't-mind-me-saying," The intelligence agent complimented. Star blushed. "Oh-wait-where-are-my-manners-I-did-not-even-introduced-myself-my-name-is-Blurr-and-I'm-an-intelligence-agent-working-for-the-Elite-Guard-an-I-am-returning-slowly-to-my-duties-after-being-crushed-by-that-two-faced-monster-Shockwave-and-later-on-rescued-by-Sari."

"Shockwave did what?!" Star was shocked.

"Okay, okay. We can talk about this later. Where exactly we're needed?" Bee asked.

"Well-the-last-possible-coordinates-point-to-different-directions-therefore-I-believe-the-most-possible-location-would-be-WATCH-OUT!" Blurr moved them away at the sight of something approaching, and quickly moved them out of there.

Sounds of blasters were heard by the Autobots, as the enemies revealed themselves.

"Okay, Autobots. That's how we'll do it: either you give up or you die at our hands!" Starscream proclaimed, as he, the clones and Decepticons presented their weapons.

"It's… Starscream… he's active," Star observed from behind their hideout. "But there are… many of him now..."

"Oh, right. I didn't tell you," Bee awkwardly remembered. "Those are his clones."

"Doesn't matter, they're all going to prison," Sari decided, calling for her hammer.

"Open fire!" Both Starscream and all of his clones and Decepticon allies began shooting their null rays and plasma weapons at the Autobot team, leaving them hunkered down behind concrete walls that were torn down.

"Optimus-I-have-the-rest-of-the-team-with-me-and-we-are-being-attacked-I-beg-you-please-don't-take-long-to-come-over-just-follow-the-coordinates!" Blurr spoke up in his audio.

"Wow, does he ever stop to breathe?" Bee asked.

"We got your message, Blurr. We're on our way," Optimus alerted through audio.

"Please, tell me you have a plan until Optimus doesn't get here," Bumblebee asked Sari.

"Well, with Blitzwing it's easy. Remember? Personality conflict," the girl reminded.

"Oh… I call first dibs," Bee decided, changing to vehicle mode, and calling Blitzwing's atention. "Hello, Blitzbrain! Still can't find the ugliest among your three faces?" Just as predicted, Blitzwing began to target Bumblebee.

Star wanted to help, but her Sitngers didn't seemed to come out. Boy, she wished she and Bee had time to rehearse that...

Sari used her hammer to knock over Sunstorm, opening space for Star to move. The blue and magenta bot then felt her body wrapped up by something. It seemed like a hook wrapped around her.

"Hey… who's the gorgeous little mech with interesting optics?" Swindle asked, flirting with Starshine, as he pulled her close. She tried activaitng her Stingers, but nothing happened. "Heh… guess you can't do much, beauty… I should have guessed how useful this extension hook could be." She blushed out of pure embarssement and fear.

"Leave her alone!" Bee yelled, driving forward, attracting Blitzwing and making him bump into Swindle.

"Ugh, not the face..." He rubbed his swollen face, as the yellow mech took his sister to safety.

"Bumblebee, please. I wanna help." Star begged.

"You said it yourself: you're still not fully in control of your parts. I don't want you to get hurt." Star watched as her brother returned to the battlefield that formed on that place. She felt desperate. He was right: her Stingers were still not working, and she didn't wanted to resort to "the curse".

By that moment, she saw Starscream and Shockwave flying to an forked structure she and Bulkhead fixed, and programming coordinates. Were they planning to… escape?

"Running away like always, huh?" Slipstream approached them. "Not much of a leader posture."

"Our army is assembled, and the Autobots are in smaller number. Victory is visible. So we might as well start programming our route to conquer other places once Cybertron is ours!" Star gasped, but tried to remain silent.

"The space bridge will open at any second," Shockwave alerted.

"Then take the remaining kliks you have to beat up those weak Autobots more!" As Shockwave departed, Slipstream noticed something about the typed coordinates. It felt very familiar...

"Starscream, I think you misled on the-"

"Not now."

"But, Starscream-"

"Hush!"

"Starscream, listen to me! There's-"

"Be quiet! I don't care for what you have to say!" Starscream slapped Slipstream away, and turned around to go back to battle with Shcokwave. The female Seeker hesitated, rubbing her cheek. That was enough for Star to leave her hideout.

"Are you okay?" She asked the female Seeker.

"D-Don't ask," Slipstream quickly turned away. As Star moved a hand to her, she moved it away. "I'm fine!" Then, she softened her expression. "It was… just a slap..."

"But your face… has a scratch." She moved a hand to Slipstream's. The female Seeker looked in surprise. Never a Bot sounded so… nice with her. At the slight touch, Star's symbol glowed and her servos glowed blue, healing that scratch.

"Starshine, look out!" Sari's voice called.

"Huh?" Bulkhead came over and defended Star against Sunstorm's blasters. He and the rest of the Autobots had arrived for the battle. Slipstream took the opportunity to escape the harsh situation.

"Sorry we got late. We got a few bumps on the way, dig?" Jazz explained, as he called for his nunchakus.

"Safeguard, handle Lugnut," Sentinel ordered. "The rest, aim for Starscream's clones!"

"Sir, yes, sir!" Safeguard immediatly started fighting. Lugnut picked up and flung him back at Sentinel, making him split up back into the Jet Twins.

"Can't you do anything right?!" Sentinel scolded.

"Sorry, sir." They both commneted. Optimus sighed, facepalming.

"MINE!" Dirge leaped at Sentinel Prime, that flinched in panic. Then, Thrust attacked Optimus with his blasters, while he defended himself with his axe. Jazz handled Ramjet and Sunstorm, using his skills to keep safe from the blasters.

"What speed and grace in your moves, Autobot," Sunstorm complimented.

"OH, you got me now!" Ramjet commented, before punching Jazz on the back.

"Bulkhead!" Bee called, as he prepared his turbo boosters for their launching attack. Sari called Blitzwing's attention, attacking his head with her hammer, making his faces switch constantly.

Bumblebee was launched at Starscream's direction, grabbing his feet. The Decepticon growled, and flew around to get him off.

Star gasped as she saw the Decepticons had the upper hand. She couldn't just stay there doing nothing… just this thought made her spark beat stronger.

"So you think you can fly, huh? Then, fly away!" Starscream grabbed Bee by the head and threw him away, making him land hard on the floor.

"Bumblebee!" Star screamed of despair, her eyes glowing a very bright light. Sari then had grabbed in the head by Blitzwing.

"Not bad for a "Blitz-brain", huh?" He was then surprised by a sudden attack of almost blinding light. Sari looked behind as Blitzwing let go of her. Starshine looked just like what her memories showed: she was seemingly overpowered, with energy flowing around her. She had shot a burst of high powered light through her Stinger.

"Wow…" Bee, who had recovered his conscience, couldn't believe his optics. Sari stumbled a bit away, just as Hothead Blitzwing turned to the glowing Bot.

Starshine firmly accepted the glare, and shot against him with narrowed optics. Blitzwing tossed and turned over his three perosnalities, but each attack seemed useless, or caused very minor injuries. He ceased once Star punched him in the face, and gave an uppercut, knocking him down.

Then, she walked to Bee, smiling and offering a hand to help him get up. After she lovingly embraced him, Bee watched Star flying towards Starscream. He knew now she could handle things by herself.

"Wow! Where did she got that power?" Sentinel wondered, as he observed from his fight against Dirge and Thrust.

"Your guess is as good as mine." Optimus came over and knocked the Seekers out of their formation, scattering them. Starscream tried blasting her, but Starshine defended herself well. Ducking and twisting, it was a deadly dance to see who would let up first.

"You are one annoying presence, small Bot!"

"My name is Starshine! You may not remember me anymore, but you'll not hurt my friends. I won't let you!" They engaged in a shooting battle in the air. Slipstream saw them both battling, while the other Seekers went to help their leader.

"Brothers, surround that beatiful young Bot!" Sunstorm commanded.

"Why don't I give the orders?!" Thrust complained. The female Seeker observed both the fight and the Seekers' discussion. Suddenly… that didn't felt right anymore.

Meanwhile, the Autobots seemed to have regained the upper hand. Bumblebee and Blurr managed to wrap Swindle with his own extension hook, rendering him basically harmless.

"Never flirt with my sister," Bee commented, flicking the salesmech's face.

"Boy-you-sure-have-become-over-protective-of-her-plus-we-really-should-work-together-more-often," Blurr commented. Then, they saw Safeguard knock down Lugnut atop of Blitzwing.

"Oooh, doggy pile," Random cackled.

"Yay! We are victorious!" Safeguard celebrated.

"Not yet!" Optimus alerted. "The space bridge opened. We have to turn it off!"

Starscream kept his distance from Star at first, but he slowly went closer and closer.

"It doesn't have to be like this, Starshine… we used to be friends… maybe even more..." Starscream proclaimed. Starshine gasped… he remembered? But how?

"You… you remember? But… Shockwave said..."

"You know very well someone like you would never be fully erased in my spark..." Starscream caressed her face. "You always mattered to me… always..." Starshine felt very secured with those words. As he moved closer to her, he secretly prepared his blaster. It was a trap!

"NO!" The hit of a blaster interrupt his plans, and called Star's attention. As the Decepticon fell on the ground, Slipstream revealed herself as who provided the attack.

Star, exhausted from her overpowering, fell out of weakness, but the female Seeker picked her up and helped her get down safely, for the shocking surprise of the team. Starscream took the opportunity to escape through the space bridge, along with Lugnut and Shockwave. Before they passed through, Shockwave blasted the controls, entering before the bridge closed.

"We lost them," Sari sighed.

"He's a manipulative kind of bot now. I'm sorry." Slipstream helped Starshine getting up.

"You saved me." Star smiled weakly to the female Seeker.

"We're even," She smiled.

"I know I shouldn't ask, but… what were you trying to-"

"His calculations on the space bridge weren't correct. They pointed back to where we just came from."

"Guess he didn't cared much to where he would go. He just ran off in a hurry." Star commented.

"Maybe. Now, if you excuse me…" She called the fallen Seekers and Swindle's attention. "Okay, to Trypticon, all of us."

"I would follow you anywhere, dearest sister," Sunstorm complimented.

"I am going back!" Ramjet protested.

"Oh, yes, you are. All of you, come on!" Slipstream threatened with her weapons. The Seekers gulped. "You two, make sure they don't try escaping, okay?" She looked at Jetfire and Jetstorm.

"Hey, I'm the only giving orders around here!" Sentinel protested. "You two make sure none of them escape."

"Yes sir," The twins saluted, then turned to the female Seeker. "Yes miss." As they surrounded the Seekers, Slipstream leaded the way back to Trypticon, dragging Swindle with his own hook.

"*sigh* Bad day for business..." The salesmech lamented.

"If you want… I'll visit you there," Star suggested, as Slipstream was about to leave.

"That… would not be a bad idea," Slipstream agreed, waving at the Bot. She, on her turn, waved back with a smile, as she left.

"How did you did that?" Optimus was astonished. "How did you convinced her to… help you?"

"All I did was help her… and talk to her." Star explained.

"Simple as that?" Bee asked.

"Simple as that."

"It looks to me like more than the "enemy of my enemy" gig. This girl has some special gift," Jazz pointed out. "If you up to train with this Cyber-Ninja, we may find good use of this strength, dig?"

"I… guess I need to think, but thank you." Star smiled to him, then looked at the team. She felt really good using her "overpower" to help. Suddenly, that "curse" looked a lot more like a blessing.

" _Good job,"_ a voice rang in her audios. Kinda like someone whispered to her… but who?

* * *

Later, back to the ship, Optimus and Cliffjumper talked about the situation.

"You did a nice work catching all of Starscream's clones, especially this new femme you called for the team. We also received Swindle and Blitzwing."

"Thank you, Cliffjumper. Unfortunately, we still have to capture the ones that took the chance to escape."

"I know. And I'm sure you'll solve everything, as always."

"Yeah… but, about… him?"

"*sigh* Ultra Magnus's condition is not getting any better. He regained his conscience, but gets weaker every cycle. We are doing our best, but… the medics are not sure he'll last much time." Optimus closed his optics in worrying, receiving those news from the red mech. "Well, anything else to report?"

"...No… y-you can go now."

After Cliffjumper left, Ratchet tried comforting Optimus, with a hand on his shoulder. Then, Star came over, having listened the whole conversation. She did the same the medic Bot did.

"Everything will be okay… It'll take time, but it will." She smiled to him, trying to cheer the leader up. Optimus smiled weakly to her, and placed a hand on her shoulder. She smiled in pride, her star symbol glowing once more.

* * *

Far away from there, Starscream returned to planet Earth's moon. Lugnut and Shockwave, knowing they couldn't return to Cybertron, formulating different ideas of revenge against the Autobots.

"There's much to do around here… and I can only hope those two don't ruin everything, like that pile of scrap Slipstream!" he complained. "If I cannot even trust my own clones, what chance we have against those weak Autobots!?"

" **I see you have a problem..."** An eerie voice called. " **But an inferior leader like you should get use to that."**

"Who's there?! Who dares insult me!?" Starscream wanted o know who was speaking.

" **That does not matter now. If you are really willing to do something right as a powerful Decepticon leader, I may know how to help you."**

"... go on," Starscream agreed reluctantly in listening the voice, even though not knowing where it came from… even though the answer was close… and emitted a purple, sidious glow...


	4. Episode 03: A Promise for Tomorrow

On Earth, at the top of Sumdac Tower, Isacc Sumdac opened up the space bridge to receive the Autobots.

"Salutations, Professor Sumdac," Optimus said once the team arrived. Sari rushed to hug her father.

"I missed you so much, dad," she said, burying her face into the white fabric of his lab coat.

"I missed you too, darling," Isaac smiled at her. Then, he saw two different colored optics staring at him.

"Wow… a real human… no offense, Sari," Starshine said, while she assured it was all fine. Star poked Isaac's head carefully, disturbing some of his black and white hair.

"A new friend of yours?" He chuckled at her innocence.

"Bumblebee's adopted sister. Long story," Sari assured, as Star stood up.

"Anyway, what brings you all back to Earth?" The professor asked.

"Well, two orbital cycles ago, there was a jailbreak in Cybertron, thanks to Starscream, that came back to life, and his clones. We captured the Seekers, but Starscream escaped along with Lugnut and Shockwave thorugh a space bridge," The leader explained. "We detected a Decepticon signal on your planet, still we don't know who of them it can be. Therefore we're spending some solar cycles here to find it and see if there was any damage caused. Besides, Bumblebee was just too excited to show Starshine the planet." He chuckled fondly after this part, knowing how excitable the yellow mech was.

"Why wouldn't I? I want her to like this place as much as we do!" Bee exclaimed. "Come on, Star, come on! I can't wait to show you our Earth Base!"

"You have an Earth Base? Wow..." Star followed her excited brother, eager to know more about it, her curiosity getting the best of her. Since her first "mission", her shyness diminished a bit.

"Well, the people from Detroit will sure be happy to see you once more," Isaac assured. "But… about the loss..."

"We all miss him too, professor. He did what it needed to be done for the good of all we protected. However, while some processed our grief a lot quicker… others are still carrying the scars..." Optimus sighed, and the rest of the team lowered their heads.

* * *

The team arrived pretty soon to their Earth Base, which had surprisingly remained undisturbed during their abscence. It looked exactly the same as when they left (which was no surprise since the base's location was kept secret).

"Primus… it looks like we haven't even left," Ratchet observed everything around.

"Oh, yes. The cleaning bots did their job well. Everyday, they come over and clean up, in case you did decide to return," Isaac assured. "The mayor even considered the idea of building a statue of you all in front of this place."

"Hm… I don't know. Whenever we roll out, we may accidentally bump into it," Optimus thought aloud. He had a point.

"I missed my comfy spot." Bulkhead settled himself around. "Wonder what's good on TV. I have a lot of catching up to do."

"This place is amazing." Starshine commneted. "So it all started here?"

"Actually in the ship that crashed on Lake Erie 50 human years ago, but I got to agree the factory was a pretty comfortable base." Optimus commneted. Bumblebee then pulled Star by the hand to the hallway.

"And by the hallway, there are many rooms. There's my room, maybe we can put your berth there, and you're gonna love it, and Prime's room's right there, Ratchet's room's there..." He pointed out where each room was, until she let go of his hand, seeing a door opening.

The room they entered was filled of Japanese-related decorations, and a huge tree growing on it. It was surprising to her, and familiar to him.

"Oh, this… was Prowl's room," Bumblebee commented.

"Your Cyber-Ninja friend, right?" She asked, receiving a nod of approval.

"Prime once asked if he wanted to move to a different room, but Prowl for some reason liked it here," Bee commented.

"Well, I guess I can see why," Star observed the tree in bliss. "This… nature the Earth has... it's beautiful. Not like anything I've seen on Cybertron..." Bumblebee stared at the tree, then a memory blinked on his mind.

 _"You know, you can have another room, one with a roof," Optimus suggested Prowl._

 _"I like this room," Prowl assured, as he admired the tree. "All this organic life, this nature, it refuses to be contained… such a force of will." A curious Bumblebee spied on their chat. "But everyone here is blind to it. They all rush to see everything, but never sit still long enough to experience what is around them. Just this morning, I observed one organic creature stalk another with such grace, such stillness." He carefully approached a small bird, until Bee cut him off._

 _"Anybody else smell fried circuitry around here? Get it - fried circuitry? A-ha ha! As in yours!" He teased the Cyber-Ninja with ignorance. "Hello? Anybot home?" Prowl growled in annoyance and jumped up to the tree branches. "What? What I say?"_

Bee remained there, with his optics glowing of shock. He missed Prowl, but never really THOUGHT of how ignorant he was whle he was still with them.

"Bee?" Star's voice snapped him out. "Are you okay?"

"Uh? Oh, sure, sure, sis. I'm fine." The yellow Bot quickly recomposed himself. "I was just… thinking a bit."

"... if you say so..." Star felt something was wrong. Then, she looked back at the tree, seeing how huge it was. "Hm… I wonder if it's higher than my favorite spot on the cybertronian frontier..." The girl bot climbed up the tree, curious. As he was left alone, Bee sighed and left the room.

* * *

Meanwhile, in an abandoned mine on the woods, a bot worked on something.

"As if being leaded by Starscream isn't bad enough, WE gotta handle by ourselves plans to take down the Autobots while he stays at this planet's moon doing nothing!" He muttered. "Well, wherever Lugnut is now, I don't care. If this planet can help me in something… might as well be destroying who stands in my way..." His single red optic glowed. Then, a thunder was heard.

It started to rain hard on the city. The Autobots managed to rastreate the signal once more.

"The coordinates of the tracking device point to various directions. This Decepti-creep must know he's being followed. No way he'll give up his location easily, it's going to be a lot of work," Ratchet complained.

"Well, it won't stop raining until tomorrow, so we might as well rest for today," Optimus decided.

"What is happening out there, Sari? Your "ocean" is falling from the sky?" Star wondered, watching the rain from the door.

"It's just rain," Sari chuckled. Then, she saw the confused look on Star's face, indicating she needed more clarification. "Let me explain: the sun's light makes the water turn into clouds, then when they get heavy, it rains. It's something that happens sometimes here on Earth. Plus, it helps organic life flourish."

"Oh..." Star nodded, understanding. Then, she approached the factory's opened door, extending her hand out to the rain. As a raindrop fell on her finger, she rubbed her hand. That felt… strange, yet… interesting.

As she slowly allowed herself to walk out on the rain, she felt the water pouring on her parts. It was… a very good feeling. Then, she walked a bit and kicked a bunch of water on a puddle. She chuckled as the water spread around. Then, she started running around in the rain like a playful child, making Sari chuckle.

"What is she doing out there?" Bumblebee, who was hearing music on his media player when he came across seeing his sister outside, and removed his earphones.

"Having a blast, apparently."

"Sari, Bumblebee! You gotta come here! It's so much fun!" Star yelled excitedly to them, with a smile.

"Uh, no thanks. I get a cold really easily," Sari kindly refused.

"What's a cold?"

"Don't ask," Bee assured. Then, he looked at his sister. He wanted her to have fun… so, it was better to go with the flow. "Okay, I'll do it." As he answered, Star pulled him out of the factory and into the rain.

Bumblebee at first felt surprised about the sudden pull, but then he observed the rain falling. His observation was interrupted by a water splash caused by Star. She chuckled as she saw Bee's reaction.

"Ha-ha. Very funny," he smirked at her, planning to splash her too. The two of them remained on that game of jumping on puddles and water spreading, laughing all the way and having fun. Optimus approached Sari, as she observed everything.

"She's so full of life and curiosity." The team leader commneted. "It's surprising how much advance she had since reactivation."

"You know, I think this time on Earth will be good not only for Star… but to Bumblebee as well." The girl commented. Optimus looked at the young Bots playing. After a while of playing in the rain, the two of them rushed back inside, chuckling.

"That was amazing. We really should do this more often," The girl bot pointed out, carrying something on her hands.

"Yeah, it was fun," Bee agreed, as he picked up a towel Sari brought.

"What are you holding there?" Optimus asked.

"I felt a life signal inside this small package." Star showed what she carried out of the rain. "The branch that was holding it broke in two."

"It's a chrysalis," Sari touched the cocoon and analyzed it. "And something amazing will come out of it." The technorganic held it carefully and placed it on a plant nearby.

"What is it?" Bee and Star asked.

"I'm not telling..." Sari teased, leaving the two bots frustrated. "It's a surprise. You'll like it." Optimus looked at the two bots staring at the plant.

* * *

The next day, after the rain ceased, the Autobots were ready to start investigating.

"Okay, we're forming teams to investigate different areas. If anything suspicious is found, one must contact the others."

"Okay, boss. I'm ready," Bumblebee assured. Then, Optimus placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Actually, Bumblebee... I have another mission for you." Both of them looked at Starshine, who was staring at a puddle left by the rain. "Starshine seems really impressed with the planet… and you told me you wanted her to like this place as much as we did." Bumblebee nodded in understanding. "Therefore, I'm designing you to teach her about Earth. Explain everything she wants to know, and help her in her exploring."

The yellow bot stared at Star. She really did seemed to be liking that place… just as he wanted.

"Okay, boss. I'm on it." Saying that, Bumblebee rushed to Star's side, as the team drived away. "So, sis, I'm all yours now. What you wanna do?"

"Um… I don't know..." Star thought. "Are there other interesting places to see on Earth?" Then, Bee had an idea.

"Did you know there are other bots here besides us?" Bee told her.

"Really?" Star got immediatly interested, and followed her big brother as he switched to vehicle mode.

* * *

For the rest of the day, as the team searched up and down for the Decepticon, Bumblebee managed to show Star all he loved from Earth: the technology, all the attention caught by the flying cameras, and of course, the videogames.

She, on the other hand, had her interest on the planet's nature catching his attention, from small things as flowers and birds to bigger things as trees and the beach. The need for silence to appreciate was hard for a Bot like Bee, but it was worth it.

Optimus and Ratchet verified the uptown area, Bulkhead saw how things were going downtown, and Sari checked on Blackwater Prison, where she found out Meltdown was still disappeared, and the police was still searching for him. No success, however, in finding who they were searching for.

About meeting other bots, Star soon made friends with Wreck-Gar seeing him collecting garbage, and nearly collecting a cat, and met one of the Constructicons and the Dinobots on the remains of their island. It simply was impressive to Bumblebee how easily she could make friends.

As the team's search was coming to a close, Bumblebee and Star were on the beach. As they walked out the ocean, after a sucessful dive, they sat for a bit to rest, laughing at how much fun they had.

"Wow..." Bee chuckled. "I gotta admit, I never had that much fun when I was here before."

"I'm loving this place," Star assured. "All of it. Especially this amazing, beautiful nature." She took a deep breath with a smile. Then, she frowned for a moment. "Too bad those that do live her don't stop often enough to watch it..." Bee fell silent once more, remembeirng about Prowl.

 _"It's as though… humans are forever in war in nature," Prowl commented, upset. "Beauty literally falls from the sky and they immediatly rushed to spoil it with their machines. They won't rest till all of nature's beauty is...Have you even heard a word I said?" He turned to Bee and Sari, who were too busy playing videogames._

 _"Huh. Yes, yes. Jump! Jump!" Sari commented, as she played._

His eyes glowed again. How could he…

"Bee, look!" Then, something on the air called Star's attention. She pointed out to a moving silhouette in the sky. "That looks like a … earth vehicle."

"Flying?" Bee was surprised. "It that's not suspect, I don't know what it is." Then, they saw the silhouette flying to the city's surroudings, on the woods.

* * *

"I warned the team to keep alert, in case we need them," Sari soon reached the siblings' location, as they were driving to the location of the suspect silhouette.

"So we'll check first that area?" Star wondered.

"Yeah probably so," Sari pointed out. "Hey… by the time you spent together, have Bee told you about when me, him and Prowl got into the woods and were attacked by..."

"Space barnacles? Yeah, he did. He told me a lot of the adventures you lived here on Earth," Star commented. "And judging by how he told me, looks like he and Prowl had a very… hard relationship."

"Well, they weren't exactly best friends, but… deep within, Bee respected him. Even if he didn't show it much often." Then, Sari looked at Bumblebee. He haven't spoke a word out of their chat. "He's very quiet. That's unusual."

As they arrived at their location, Bee changed to Autobot mode, with a shocked expression. That place looked more devastated than what the space barnacles had caused, with trees destroyed everywhere, and many critters running for their lives. Someone, or rather yet, something has done this.

"Oh my gosh… what happened here?" Sari wondered, her helmet vanishing. Bumblebee was paralyzed, something also really unusual. "Bumblebee?"

"I'm… I'm okay..." Bee's voice cracked.

"Bee, you're not okay. Stop hiding your pain from me!" Star had enough of staying quiet. "What is wrong with you?" The yellow Autobot's optics opened, glowing as another memory came.

 _"We owe you a tremendous debt of gratitude."_

 _"And you owe me a new media player! Or did you think I forgot?" Bumblebee pointed out. Prowl grunted._

 _"Have you learned nothing about your time in the woods?"_

 _"Yeah, I learned we should pave it over as soon as we get the chance."_

 _"Surely you don't blame ALL of nature for a few space barnacles..."_

 _"You don't see my game player turning everyone into zombies, do you?"_

 _"Actually..."_

Bumblebee looked away, trying not to leak. However, it didn't too him long to knelt down. He shivered, trying to contain his sadness.

"It's… gone… all HE liked more about the planet… is gone..." He said, lamenting. "What… what would he think of me now?" Now the girls were sure of what was happening.

"Bumblebee… we do understand, but it's not good to keep your feelings locked for that long, remember?" Sari spoke up. "We are still upset about Prowl leaving us, but we're going through together. You don't have to suffer by yourself."

"There, there..." The girl Bot calmed down her brother, pulling his face close to her chest. "Calm down… everything will be fine..." Then, she thought for an instant. "But why haven't you told me anything?"

"You were having so much fun… and was really liking the planet as much as we did… I didn't wanted to bother you…" Bee admitted.

"But it won't be fun if you're not okay." Star cupped her brother's face. "I'm your sister, Bumblebee. You can tell me when something's bothering you, like I told you when things bothered me." Bee looked at them both.

"You can trust these faces, can't you?" Sari smirked at him. Bee held Star's comforting hand around his face and closed his optics with a calm smile.

"T-Thanks…"

"Why, by Primus..." A familar voice called their attention. "I should have guessed I recognize these voices… surely, you recognize your old pal, don't you, Bumblebee?"

Bumblebee's hands instinctively morphed into his Stingers, ready to fight. The trio turned around to see an enemy in common.

"Shockwave," Bee growled. Star stepped to his side, a little nervous of the prescene of the new Decepticon.

"So you really came back to Earth. Fatal mistake, if you ask me." He called for his "army": homunculus creatures, made of rudimentary material and scrapped metal. "The raw material of this weak planet had to be worth of something. It took me a long time to gather enough for my newest army, considering how poor this planet is."

"How can you view a place like this as weak, Shockwave?" Star pointed out. "It's a beautiful planet, capable of so much!"

"It admire me you Autobots had so much care for this weak, despicable planet. Especially your Cyber-Ninja friend," Shockwave chuckled. "Sacrificing his own spark for the sake of simpistic life forms..." He laughed a bit more. "It's hilaroius of how much of a fool he was! Your friend wasted his life by giving it up for pathetic helpless organics on this wasteland, oh how noble of him," he cruelly jeered in a mocking tone.

"Stop laughing at him!" Bee threatened. "I won't admit you laugh at him! He had more of a spark than you had!"

"Oh, I offended you, little bot? Besides being the gullible bot you are, you're stupid enough to face me alone?"

Bumblebee growled of fury, and rushed forward to attack Shockwave, but the cyclops Decepticon remained at place, as one of his homunculus stopped Bumblebee and shoved him away. The girls watched as Bumblebee was thrown away.

"Bee!" Star gasped. Bumblebee struggled to stand up. He looked up, with an angry expression, at Shockwave. He wanted so hard to punch him on his only optic. As he advanced to him again, he was attacked once more by the homunculus, that immobilized his Stinger and punched him out.

"Some things don't change..." Sari commneted, seeing Bee remained as implusive as always.

"Sari, call the team. Maybe in the sky, they can't attack you." She called for her Stingers. Sari flew away, calling out from the sky, hoping she wouldn't be attacked there.

"Everyone, it's Shockwave! I repeat, Shockwave's here, and we're being attacked!" She warned through her communicator, before she was hit by something.

"We know where to go, team. Transform and roll out!" Optimus decided, as the team received the message.

Shockwave laughed at Bee's failed trying to hit him. Star rushed to help Sari standing up.

"Maybe we won't have to wait for the team." she pointed out, as Sari removed her broken jetpack, destroyed by Shockwave's cannon. "Don't attack yet. I have noticed something we can all use at our favor." She warned Bumblebee through audio.

Shockwave, that couldn't hear their audio chat, just saw the small Bot standing.

"I'm surprised, Bumblebee. Either you are very brave to continue standing, or very dumb to keep trying. Are you sure giving up is not an option?"

"Never. I won't give up like the coward you are." He mocked, with a cocky smile. Then, he rushed toward Shockwave, as the Decepticon stayed in place.

Star then attacked the Homunculus, as his attention was on Bee. The raw material warrior hit the Decepticon, knocking him down.

"Ugh… how?" He stood up, rubbing his helm.

"You may had programmed them to attack any unusual guests around you or this area, but it looks like they can't defend themselves." Sari commneted, her helmet closing up and her hammer in hands.

"And about facing you alone… that's an advantage of being an Autobot: I'm NEVER alone!" Bumblebee pointed out. The three of them split up, ready to fight.

Each of them took turns in simulating an attack against Shockwave, in some cases defending from his cannon, while the others destroyed the inattentive homunculus. The one-eyed betrayer soon was defenseless.

"Looks like the tables have turned, huh?'" Sari smirked. Shockwave narrowed his optic, and shoot again with his cannon. Star stepped in front, protecting her friend with her force field. Bee took the chance to punch him hard in the helm, breaking one of his "antlers".

"Efficient even with him." Star thought. "Who would've guessed?" As the Decepticon struggled to stand up, he saw Bumblebee aiming his Stingers at him.

"One advice, Shockwave… NEVER come back to Earth," He growled, with an furious stare.

"This day may be yours, but you haven't smite the glory of the Decepticons!" Shockwave sweared, as he left, stumbling at his flight. At that moment, the team arrived at their location, as Star helped Bee standing up.

"Guess we missed the party," Bulkhead commented, as they saw Shockwave's silhouette at the distance.

"I'm sorry, Optimus," Star commented. "We tried holding him back the maximum we could, but..."

"It's okay, Starshine." Optimus picked up Shockwave's horn. "Next time we see him, we'll get the rest." Star smiled to him.

"Well, after that last hit, I'm sure he won't be returning to Earth so early." Sari's helmet disappeared, revealing her face. "I say this mission was a success."

"Success?" Bee muttered. "No, i-it's not right!" He scolded out loud. "Look at the destruction Shockwave caused! We failed… I failed in protecting what… what HE most liked about the planet..." He started to shiver as he calmed down. "What… what he would think of me?" He repeated.

Sari whispered on Optimus's audio what was going on and as he stepped forward, she told the others. Starshine stepped forward, and embraced Bee.

"Well… I think you're fascinating," she said. Bee shivered for a bit with a shocked stare, and small leaking came from his optics.

"T-Thanks..." He muttered, as the team stared at him.

 _Bee was on his room, struggling to not suffer. He still couldn't believe the events that happened: Sari was a Bot like him, they had no way to contact Cybertron... but even more than that, he couldn't believe the biggest mistake he made… sending an innocent Bot to prison._

 _"Bumblebee?" He heard Prowl's voice outside. "Are you here?"_

 _"Leave me alone!" He said. "I don't wanna talk!" Prowl sighed, then stared at the closed door._

 _"Look, all of the events weren't easy for any of us. But hiding in your room will not help." The ninja bot placed a hand on the wall._

 _"I'm not coming out. You'll find a way without me!" The yellow Bot tried to not break down._

 _"Just listen... I know how it feels to make a huge mistake… and that you think you won't make it thorugh this… but trust me, you will. I- we can help you… if you just let us." Prowl started walking away, until he heard the door opening. Bee walked out of his room, with his optics closed._

 _"Why? Why would YOU want to help me?" He muttered. Prowl smiled shortly at him, and lift up the bot's face._

 _"Don't tell the team I said this… but I think you're fascinating." This comment made Bee give him a short smile, and leak a bit._

 _"Thanks..."_

* * *

Later on that day, as the sun started to set, the team finished bringing up new trees to be planted where the battle happened.

"That's the last one," Sari counted. "These trees will grow big and strong soon, if everyone helps taking care of them."

"The mayor agreed in making this spot a place to remember Prowl's deeds, and his appreciation for nature," Isaac commented. "He'll place an holographic statue of him somewhere here. We'll have to discuss the best place later."

Bumblebee helped in planting the trees, until Star called his attention. The chrysalis on the plant they were keeping with them was moving. The two young bots didn't even moved, watching a butterfly sprouting out of there.

"Wow…" Maybe for the rarest occasions, Bee was speechless. He watched as the butterfly landed on his helmet then flew away. "That was… beautiful."

"I told you it would be cool," Sari commented, as she watch both bots surprised, staring at the horizon.

"Well, we better get back to Cybertron, team. I believe the population can deal with this place for itself now," Optimus decided. As the team started to leave to Sumdac Tower, Bumblebee looked at the sunset again and at the reforested place.

"You know… I wouldn't mind coming back here to try camping again," he decided.

"What's camping?" Star asked.

"We'll show you next time we're here. As long, of course, there's no space barnacles," Sari commented. Bee chuckled, and the three followed the team.

As the trio walked away from the new patch of reforested trees, the newly hatched butterfly fluttered under the warm colors of the sky in the sunset. It had places to go and so much to discover before its time was up. Fluttering towards the direction of the setting sun, the butterfly carried on its destination.


	5. Episode 04: From Bot to Beast

Sentinel Magnus pursued a silhouette that darted away from him impossibly quickly. Knowing Sentinel, he would not give it a second thought that this bot was unusually fast. The elite guard are supposed to be the best of the best, no time for taking it easy!

"Now I got you, speedy!" He swore under his breath as he followed it. Then, he was surprised by the opening of the space bridge appearing out of nowhere. Where was that thing going?

"Okay, scum! Stop right there, and put your hands in the air!" he barked aggressively. The silhouette hissed in response, twisting around, knocking the Magnus Hammer away and grabbing his vehicle mode by the front bumper. "Let me go! Where are you taking me?!"

The swirling vortex of the space bridge got closer and closer. In a flash, Sentinel and the thing were gone, leaving behind only the Magnus' weapon.

* * *

The next day, the Elite Guard were searching for any clue of where Sentinel could be. Their search was not as fruitful as they had hoped, much to their chagrin.

"Ya find anythin'?" Jazz asked.

"No sign of Sentinel Prime," Safeguard pointed out, before splitting back to the Jet Twins.

"It's just so… surprising..." Star commented to Bumblebee. "I admire their determination on finding their superior. Although he obviously couldn't care less for them, they care for him."

"Well, they were trained to obey their superiors. Why not also to respect jerks like him?" Bumblebee responded. However, she noticed how his voice trembled slightly. He was hiding something from her again.

"Bee..."

"Ratchet caught some of the security cameras' recordings, and I saw something that shocked me." Bee signalled for them all to follow him. Soon they were all reunited with Ratchet and Optimus, watching the camera footage.

"You tell me where to stop, Bumblebee?" Ratchet asked. Several minutes of the footage flew by before Bee paused and pointed to a blur in the footage. Something about the blur caught his attention. A blur that resembled a giant bug.

"That bug thing's got to be him. I don't know anybot else with this kind of form," Bumblebee pointed out.

"Who? What are you-" Star wanted to know, until she was cut.

"Bumblebee, we saw transwarp explosion," Jetfire pointed out. "Even if Bug Bot survived..."

"Not sure if bug bot be making it this long," Jetstorm added.

"Well, whether he made it or not, whoever that bot was took Sentinel," Optimus chimed in. "The two entered the space bridge shortly before it disappeared."

"The coordinates of the space bridge are still there. We can open another one at their exact location," Ratchet alerted.

"Then do it, Ratchet. I'm going after them," Bee decided.

"Wait, Bumblebee. It's far too dangerous to go alone."

"I'll go with him," Star assured, then the Jet Twins stepped forward.

"We be going too!"

"Big surprise..." Sari chuckled.

* * *

In a jungle-like place, Sentinel rubbed his arm and his optics. He felt light-headed from being smacked on the head. Whatever or whoever it was, his weapon injured its arm so he could free himself, but an unknown amount of time passed as he tried to find a way to go back to Cybertron.

"What the spark is this place? All of these trees look the same!" He complained.

He wandered around aimlessly, searching for a way out of the mess of organic growths, or for some high ground to get a good view of the place.

There was a crash behind him, and he whirled around, deploying his shield. Then, a very familiar bug bot was seen.

"A-ha! I knew there was something strange going on here!" Sentinel stood up, pointing his sword at Waspinator.

"Wazzpinator no give up bossbot. Wazzpinator has plans. Spider bot out there. Wazzpinator escape from lady bot." He said, approaching the Magnus, who was just worried about getting the scrap out of there. "Wazzpinator… go back home. Get Bots help. Wazzpinator need help… be Wazzp again."

"Yeah, right. Just stay with your hands, or claws in the air where I can see them!" Sentinel didn't even want to hear him as he stepped away from the techno organic, not noticing the webbing behind him.

"No!" Hissed Waspinator, lunging for him suddenly, driving him back into the web as he pulled out his sword and attacked. There was a dry chuckle from above Sentinel, and a sudden stinging pain in his neck before everything went black. The last thing he saw was Waspinator crawling away with a claw around his wounded torso.

* * *

Once they crossed the space bridge, Bumblebee looked around. Star and the Twins followed him shortly after.

"So that's where the space bridge leads. Animatron, the Jungle Planet."

"Heard Energon from planet is delightful treat." Jetfire pointed out.

"Warm, smooth, well-condensed." Jetstorm added.

"Fascinating." Starshine pointed out. "But I think Bee's not really interested on this now. Right, brother?" Bee sighed, clenching his fists. It was no use: he had to tell her.

"You remember when the team told you about when I get expelled from boot camp along with Bulkhead?"

"Yes… but I for one felt there were much detailing missing. None of them told much."

"Well… this detailing has a name… it was a bot that started to, as Sari would call, bully me…

 _"His name was Wasp. By the time he started making my time there unbearable, Sentinel Magnus, still Minor, already thought badly of me._

 _"Then, I ended up overhearing somebot speaking to Megatron, and after seeing Wasp coming out of there, Shockwave, under his Longarm disguise, used me to get him jailed in his place. Me and Bulkhead got kicked out because I assumed responsibility over an accident that happened there… but only stellar cycles later, I found out my mistake. I had sent an innocent to jail, and a Decepticon spy attacked our Supreme commander._

"After Wasp escaped, Blackarachnia turned him into Waspinator, and they both disappeared into a transwarp explosion. We thought they were gone… but he's alive… and he's here, on Animatron..." Bee finished explaining. The Jet Twins looked at each other, feeling bad for him. Star looked at her adoptive brother. That was serious. "That's enough for you?"

"... yes," Star answered, before putting her servos on Bee's shoulders. "I understand now why you hate Shockwave so much. What he did to you… "

"It's not worse than what he did after that!" Bee walked a bit away. "I… I don't even care about not being part of the Elite Guard like I always wanted… but what Shockwave did to Cybertron is my fault… and what happened to Wasp… he wasn't the nicest Bot, but he didn't deserve what I did to him..."

Star felt terrible of seeing her brother like that. Oh, she wished she could help him feel better at once… Suddenly, however, something started moving behind them.

Crawling, with oil and energon leaking from his wound, Waspinator emerged from behind the bushes. Bee gasped, not only in surprise of seeing who he was just speaking of, but also in shock: what happened to him? The Jet Twins prepared to attack.

"Wait!" Star asked the Twins, as Bee remained motionless, not knowing what to do. The girl Bot calmly touched the Predacon's head. "It's okay. We're not gonna hurt you… please, we just wanna help you..."

Waspinator widened his optics. He'd never seen this Bot in his life. The twins looked in confusion. He frowned and hissed in pain as he tried moving, sparks of electricity flowing atop his head.

"Please, don't move much, or it'll hurt more," Star alerted.

"Wazz… Wazzpinator… help..." The Predacon struggled to say.

"We gotta find a safe place then," Bee decided. "This place is literally a jungle full of dangers."

"I think I can help." The bots looked behind. A shadowy figure approached them.

"Who are you? How did you know we were here?" Star asked.

"Don't fear. I will not hurt you." Stepping out of the shade, he revealed his form: it was a bot with a very unusual structure. He resembled… a bat. "You may call me Nightscream."

* * *

Sentinel Prime shook his helm, trying to get his optics to focus.

"Oh, I see our guest is awake," a familiar voice called his attention. Then, he noticed, he was trapped in some kind of pod, unable to move. "It's been a long time since our last encounter… Sentinel." A spider-like female Bot, with purple skin and black and gold armor approached him, her red optics glaring at him.

"Blackarachnia?! You-You're alive?! But… that-that's impossible!" The Magnus could not believe what he was seeing.

"Hm… I heard these same words before." She narrowed her optics at him. Then, her bug Predacons, one fern green and red and the other purple, hissed at him. "There, there, children. Great job bringing him to me, by the way." She patted their heads.

"So it was you, and not Waspinator?!"

"Why, look who's finally started to understand. Waspinator was a big disappointment. It does surprise me, however, that he made it after all those orbital cycles we've been stuck on this jungle planet." The spider Bot stepped back and looked at the machine behind she and her minions. "I still can remember when his instability resulted in that transwarp explosion."

 _"Luckily, and still unbelievably, I have survived and found a way to rebuild my transwarp generator, and make it better using the genetic signatures I acquired from all the different species this planet has… not to mention meet and greet new members of my army."_

"These two little ones you see were Bots of great value already, being Inferno, a loyal servant, and Antagony, a gratifying Decepticon. All they needed was a bit of this machine to evolve and become better."

"It's not exactly an army with only two bug brains to help you."

"Funny you should mention that, Sentinel." She pressed a button on the panel, opening the pod. "I was just about to start a new test, and you have been chosen as the subject, along with any Bot that is foolish enough to try searching for you." Blackarachnia pointed to the sky, and climbed on Antagony. "And if I know the Autobots, there IS somebot foolish enough..." Sentinel gulped, as he watched her flying away.

* * *

As the young Bots joined into an abandoned ship, the bat Bot helped Star to take care of Waspinator's wound.

"My apologies if my master's not present. He and his pupils are out training and gathering Energon for the little ones," Nightscream murmured, bringing some leaves. "Here, maybe these can help in the healing."

"Nightscream, your help couldn't have come at a better time. I had no idea there were other Autobots living on this planet," Star commented. Looking down at Waspinator, she rubbed his wound, cleaning it. "Does it still hurt?"

"Wazzzpinator… okay now," Waspinator grunted, feeling his pain diminish. "Star-bot good friend..."

"*giggle* It's Starshine, actually." Nearby, Bumblebee seemed lost in his thoughts.

Waspinator stared at the yellow Bot in silence. In his previous demented state, he had doubts and hatred, but mostly hatred. But somehow, after reassembling himself, he managed to regain a bit of his sanity. At least enough to know he had to stay away from Blackarachnia and remove his Decepticon insignia.

He reflected a bit better over his actions. He felt pain, sadness… but mainly guilt. Star knew that very well, especially after using her spark-speaking technique to feel his mental state.

"Bumble-bot… not angry?" Waspinator broke the silence.

"Only with himself… he suffered more than you think when he found out the truth…" Star explained. "Right, Bee?" The yellow Autobot sighed.

"Wasp-inator… I know you probably won't forgive me… But… I really am sorry." Bee looked down. "What I did was plain unforgivable, and I'll understand if you don-" His speech was cut short by Waspinator's shivering paw on his arm.

"Wazzzpinator… understands now… Bumble-bot innocent too…" The bug bot said, and Star smiled. "Wazzp… forgives Bumble-bot." Bee smiled at that, and wiped his optics, seeing he was about to leak.

"See? It wasn't that hard, was it?" Star pointed out.

"I'd better try contacting Optimus and the team. They can help us," Bumblebee whispered to Starshine. He pressed his audio on his helmet, but nothing happened. "The signal's all messed up."

"Well, our communication devices have not worked since forever. I don't think anyone actually knows we're here," Nightscream pointed out.

"But ours ARE functional. We've got to try," Star remarked. Bee nodded and set out to try his luck, moving outside to test the signal. "Don't worry, Waspinator. We'll help you as well as we can."

"Wazzp… actually..." The Predacon pointed out, making Star chuckle. The Jet Twins, observing from faraway, talked with each other.

"Have we been replaced..."

"...by Predacon?"

"Wazzp… glad Starshine here." The twins pouted in jealousy.

* * *

Bumblebee tried once more contacting the team in the ship's ceiling, only receiving static as response.

"Wow, he really meant it. No wonder no bot came after Nightscream or any of his friends..." He thought. Then, something dropped down on him, and in a klik, Bumblebee had disappeared.

"What the..." Bee tried freeing himself, before getting his body trapped by a strange substance that quickly solidified.

"Well, if it isn't you… the little bumbler of Optimus's team." Blackarachnia glared at him with narrowed optics.

Back to the ship, Starshine observed the surroudings as Waspinator recovered, and Nightscream explained how the ship worked to her and the twins.

"So… your little ones… where are they, exactly?"

"They for now are on their berths, resting their energy," he explained. "My master and their students are great teachers and always make sure all of us have everything to survive."

"I see… you're a family, just like Optimus's team… and the twins, of course." Star chuckled, then she saw the room's screens. "Have you ever checked on your devices?"

"Not as often as we used to. Last time my master did, the circuitry of the Hyperborea was fried."

"Well, I haven't seen anything to enable communication systems around this planet. Maybe that's why no Bot ever searched for you."

"It makes sense, but… building one of those would require an unsure amount of time."

Star thought for a moment, as she saw something that resembled an antenna tower.

"Twins, I think I have an idea. I will require Safeguard's help." Star smiled to them, and they smiled back widely.

* * *

The Predacons watched over the prisoners as Blackarachnia programmed the transwarp generator.

"Look, can't you just use him and leave me alone? Cybertron won't survive without my leadership," Sentinel babbled, voice getting higher and higher as his emotions spiralled out of control. Bee pouted, plainly upset.

"I'm sure they'll make do without you," the spider lady replied. "Now pipe down until the ceremony starts."

"Ceremony?" the yellow Autobot asked.

"Oh, right, you weren't here before..." Blackarachnia approached him, caressing his cheek. "Basically, there'll soon be newer Predacons in my army… and YOU two are the lucky Bots to be a part of this," Bumblebee gasped. "Reminds you of somebot?" The yellow bot looked down, while Sentinel remained struggling to free himself.

"I'm too important to become a monster! Cybertron needs me!" The Magnus shrieked.

"Aw, stop whining. As if that was possible... Maybe after you join my army, I can get the other Bots that Antagony told me about..."

"Don't think about getting near Star or the Twins!" Bee growled.

"They're here?!" Sentinel gasped.

"Enough foolishness. Inferno, Antagony, bring up the subjects." Blackarachnia instructed. The two prisoners were freed from the cocoon-like prisons and grabbed by the arms.

"Can't activate Stingers..." Bee struggled.

"Your weapons were deactivated… courtesy of my Predacons," Blackaracknia chuckled. "And with your devices not working, no Bot will come to save you now!"

"That's what you think!" There was a voice coming from the sky. Optimus Prime lead from the sky with the Magnus hammer on his hands. Along with him came Bulkhead, Sari and Ratchet.

"What?!" Blackarachnia narrowed her optics. Ratchet and Bulkhead took out the Predacons, while Optimus knocked blackarachnia off her throne and Sari freed Sentinel and Bee.

"Boy, am I glad to see you guys!" Bee laughed, as he was freed. "But how did you..."

"Starshine managed to send us a quick message. We met her and the others on the Hyperborea," Sari explained. "I was so worried..." She hugged him, before stepping away, with a nervous chuckle. "Uh, WE were all worried."

"Waspinator… better saying, Wasp, told us about Blackarachnia, and then Star realized you hadn't returned from your try to call us." Bulkhead pointed out. "That's honestly unusual coming from you… but in a very good way."

"Well, I don't know a better group of bots to help," Bee pointed out. Sentinel cleared his throat, but saw no Bot had turned with embarassement to him. Blackarachnia seized the distraction to attack.

"Predacons, get them!" She gave out a firm order, as Inferno and Antagony recovered. The two bug bots charged against the team.

By that moment, Starshine and Nightscream came down to help. Waspinator followed them, partially recovered from his wound.

"Sorry we were late. Wasp had a small glitch on the way." Bee laughed, giddy with the familiar rush of battle.

"Hurry!" Sari beckoned them towards the trees.

"We'll hold them off," Nightscream said before nodding to Safeguard, bringing him into the battle.

Safeguard and Nightscream defended themselves the best they could, until Blackarachnia used her poison to immobilize Safeguard, separating it into the Jet Twins once more.

"Enough! You have caused me too many problems already! I must have my subjects and this experiment has to happen now!" Blackarachnia snapped her fingers and her Predacons snatched the Bots' arms, and knocked Nightscream on the head, stunning him.

"Are you okay?"

"I'll make it," Nightscream assured. "But them… I'm not sure." He pointed out to the Twins, who were being carried away by the Predacons. The Spider Bot narrowed her optics, and shot fire and wind at her pursuers.

"You never told me she could do that." Star looked at Bee.

"Yeah, the victims of Lady Venomous would rather not speak of that..." The yellow Bot defended himself.

"Ouch."

"It's too late for them! Let's go!" Sentinel pointed out, wanting to leave immediately. The twins were stuck in the crossfire, and there was no way to reach them. Then Waspinator looked over to the transwarp generator.

"One thing… can be done..." Then, he flew up into the sky swiftly.

"Wasp!" Bee gasped.

"Wazzp… do right thing… for friends..." he declared, before diving into the transwarp generator, knocking out Blackarachnia on the way.

The device detonated, creating a transwarp explosion that caused a humongous gush of wind, throwing all bots to different direcitons, heat searing over their frames.

As they recovered from the sudden explosion, Bee and Star gasped: the transwarp generator was in pieces. Then, from behind the remains of the transwarp generator, a hand rose. It was Wasp, who was returned to his normal Bot state, to Bee's relief and Star's delight.

"No!" Blackarachnia snarled. "That could have been me! It should have been me!"

As the two young Bots helped the green one to walk out of the scrap pile, he tried to stabilize his walking, feeling dizzy from the explosion. As his optics recovered, he observed Star staring at him.

"Welcome back, Wasp." She said, with a smile, as the green Bot noticed his return to Bot form. At that moment, Inferno and Antagony shook off their shock and carried their mistress away from that place.

"This won't be the last time we see each other again… my army and I will rise soon, and you will pay for all my pain!" Blackarachnia swore, as she observed the team from far away.

The team helped Sentinel Prime get his head out of the ground.

"Is it just me or does gravity hate me?" The bot pouted hard.

"If you knew how many felt like that..." Ratchet muttered.

* * *

Back on the Hyperborea, Starshine healed the Jet Twins' poisoned parts, and the team showed Nightscream a new project for a better antennae and better communication systems.

"Bumblebot not only one need apologizing." Wasp called Bee's attention. "Wasp… sorry for everything. Wasp did not want any of what happened to happen." He turned his head, ashamed of his acts. Bumblebee stared at the saddened green Bot, and smiled softly.

"Bumblebot knows… and Bumblebot forgives Wasp." The yellow bot offered a hand in friendship, and abruptly, Wasp's optics twitched and a small static flourished atop his helm. Then, Wasp hesitantly shook Bee's hand and smiled.

"Yeah, yeah, all right, everything's okay now, but I really need to take this bot with me," Sentinel stalked towards him, while Wasp gasped. Then, Jetfire and Jetstorm stood in front of him.

"We are sorry, Sentinel Prime, sir…" Jetfire started.

"But we are not letting you do this," Jetstorm completed.

"What?! How dare you..." Sentinel growled.

"If you remember well, sir, real culprit of betrayal was Longarm aka Shockwave..."

"Therefore, Wasp not to be blamed for anything. In other words, Wasp free of all accusations. Plus, can come back to Cybertron."

"Wasp… free?"

"You heard them," Bee patted the green bot's shoulders as he smiled.

"I am the Magnus here! I'm sure to let the council know about-"

"I'm sure the council wouldn't be angry if they knew you sent an innocent to prison, and insisted in going after him for glory," Optimus pointed out, his voice laced with sarcasm.

Sentinel growled, staring at the Bots gathered around him, and seeing it was a dead end: if he told any of that to the council, he would be in trouble. He changed to his vehicle mode to return. Optimus then turned to the team.

"Let's transform and roll back home. All of us." Wasp smiled, seeing that meant him too. "And thank you for your help. We hope to work with you again." The team leader turned to Nightscream.

"Same here, Optimus. I'll make sure to alert my master about the future threat and you all," Nightscream assured. As he saluted the team, the Autobots came aboard the space bridge.

* * *

Back on Cybertron, Wasp trained his wheels again, and his transforming to get back in shape, being watched by the Jet Twins, and cheered by Starshine. Far from there, Bumblebee watched everything.

"I'm glad to see you both finally made amends," Optimus called his attention. "It took me a while, but Jazz helped me into getting the Council to suspend Wasp's past accusations."

"I'm glad… and I've never been more relieved," Bee admitted, touching his chest. "It feels like I took a pile of scrap off my back."

"Bumblebee… I've been meaning to tell you this for a while… but I think you've changed since we came back from Earth. You managed to face your problems this time instead of running from them like you used to," Optimus pointed out.

"Well… since Star joined us… I guess I never opened myself so much. And you know, I do feel a change now. And it feels kinda good."

"Heh…. that's the perks of growing up, as Sari would define this. But Star isn't the only one you can open up too." Optimus placed a hand on Bee's shoulder. "Me, Ratchet, Bulkhead, everyone's with you, Bumblebee. You can talk with us if something is bothering you. And you know, if there's a thing I learned about the past is that although you can't alter it, as bad as it was... you can learn from it and become a better Bot."

"And you… think I've became one?"

"I'm sure of it." Prime's smile made Bumblebee feel great.

"Thanks, boss."

"Now… why don't you go help your new old friend?" Optimus pointed to the group they were observing. Bee nodded in approval and went on his way.

The leader smiled. That once small kid had grown up very fast and so had his attitude and spark. This would prove to be very good for future missions.


	6. Episode 05: The Tracks we Leave

On Cybertron, all the bots around were grieving. Ultra Magnus had passed away, succumbing to his wounds from Shockwave's attack. In the grand square, many Cybertronians gathered all around, all eyes on his funeral.

"He was a benevolent leader, a brave warrior that fought for the good of our planet and all lifeforms." Perceptor eulogized in his usual monotone voice. "And his presence will be missed by all, but he shall never be forgotten, neither by all of us, nor the future generation to come."

Sentinel Magnus, struggling to not suffer from the loss, looked away. No one however, seemed more saddened that Optimus. Eventually, the funeral ended and all bots got on their way. However, the Autobot leader reflected deep on his memories.

 _A young Optimus looked around the Autobot boot camp, while his collegues spoke with each other._

 _"You seem pretty excited," the yellow girl Bot noticed, interrupting her chat with her friend._

 _"I am. I just could not wait to get here. Just think about it… we'll be tranied by one pf the most reliable warriors on Cybertron. That's such an honor."_

 _"Uh, he's an ex-warrior now. And he's old. I doubt he'll even keep up with us." The darker blue bot muttered._

 _"Attention!" A voice rang, calling the three's attention. They formed a line and saluted Kup Minor. "Look here, you all. I was designed, as you know, to train you in your way to become worthy of the Autobot title. And I hope to not be disappointed by you, young bots."_

 _"You can trust me, sir, we will not fail you."_

 _"I admire your attitude, young bot. So, I guess I'll name you… Optimus." Optimus smiled at the name._

 _"Don't get used to it. It doesn't look that amazing," the yellow Bot commented._

 _"Watch the snobbish attitude, missy. Hm… what about… Elita-1?" The yellow Bot agreed. Then, they saw their other comrade wrapping his arms around them._

 _"Don't worry, old man, I'll keep an optic on these two everytime so Decepti-creeps don't take them out. I might be able to help you too, if you're not able to defend as well as before."_

 _"More respect, Sentinel!" Kup argued, making them line up. "I'm a well-trained warrior chosen by none other than Ultra Magnus himself, and I'll make sure of making you proud of callin' yourselves Autobots!"_

 _Their chat was interrupted when no one else than Ultra Magnus entered the room. He was being followed by the High Council members, verifying if everything was working well. Then, he looked at Kup Minor's new bots, as they saluted him. Then, he smiled at them, and left,_

 _"See that? He smiled at ME." Sentinel bragged, making Elita-1 sigh with a smile. Optimus felt happy for seeing the Supreme Commander of the Autobots in person._

Optimus's thinking was interrupted by the touch of Starshine's hand on his arm.

"I didn't had much opportunity of knowing him better, but I'm sure he really was a great Bot," she said with sincerity.

"Yes… yes, he was," Optimus sighed.

Star smiled shortly, then something called her attention. A strange apparition… a glowing silhouette, that looked like… a Bot? As it vanished, she thought about the happening.

* * *

Later in Jazz's dojo, Star talked with the Elite Gaurd Cyber-ninja.

"Sorry if I came in a bad time. Somebot's loss takes a while to recover."

"Don't sweat it. You are always welcome to my space, dig?" He made sure it was all okay.

"Well, the reason I came… is that I decided to accept your proposition, and I am more than willing to learn what you know as a cyber-Ninja, and improve my moves and my… ability through Circuit-Su."

"That's great to know, girl." Jazz stood up. "First let's see what you got." He bowed to her and she did the same, and they started to combat.

"While we do this..." Star said, as she defended herself. "Would you mind… tellling me a bit more about Prowl? I don't know much about him… although I feel I have heard of him bef-" Her asking was interrupted by Jazz's attack, that knocked her down.

"Heard of him before?"

"It started a while after we returned from Earth. I did heard sometimes a voice before it, but felt it was just me. Then, this feeling started to appear, and I don't understand it..." As he helped her get up, he thought over that.

"Well, some facts he told me, others I found out myself, dig?" Jazz nodded, as they sat down again.

 _During the final passages of the Great War, Prowl did not wanted anythin' to do with fightin'. Then, Warpath took him to see my master, also master of previous generations of Cyber-ninjas… Master Yoketron._

 _He saw potential on Prowl, so he took him in and taught him many cyber-ninjitsu martial art moves, not to mention the beginnings of P over M and the importance of the Cyber-Ninja duty of protecting the future generations to come. Believe it or not, Prowl was on the way to becoming a full-fledged Cyber Ninja._

 _However, something was missing to him. He had the skills, and a weapon of his own… but he didn't had the touch for processor-over-matter… yet. He just could not find it within himself, you dig?_

 _"You have the spark within you. You simply have to locate it."_

"So… what happened?" Star asked, noticing that Jazz had stopped for a moment. Their chat was interrupted by a sudden call on both of their com-links.

"Jazz, present yourself to duty now!"

"Star, we need you on the Elite Guard ship."

* * *

"We received a call from Sideswipe, warning us of another attack on Energon farms," Cliffjumper explained to the team once they were all reunited. "Something about Team Chaar was said, then we lost contact with him."

"Team Chaar again? These cogs don't have any other plans?" Sentinel complained.

"We tried contacting Rodimus and his team to help, but they're currently in a mission," Cliffjumper pointed out. "The only option left were you."

"You say like it's a bad thing," Bumblebee pointed out.

"At a certain point..." Cliff wanted to finish the line, staring at Sentinel, but decided against saying it.

"We'll be on our way, Cliffjumper," Optimus reassured.

"As Supreme Magnus, I confirm this," Sentinel bragged, as Cliffjumper finished the chat.

"Should we warn Wasp?" Jazz asked.

"He's in training now," Sari pointed out. "And was very clear he didn't wanted to be interrupted. If you want, I can go there track their exact location." Optimus wanted to point out something, but Sentinel cut him off.

"For a small link, you have a point. Blurr, Twins, go with her." The Magnus immediatly pointed out.

"Yes-on-our-way-no-problem-sir!" Blurr saluted, as the twins formed Safeguard.

"Sentinel, I must remember Optimus is the team leader, therefore you should at least let him-" Ratchet pointed out.

"I know what I'm doing, old bot. Don't bother me."

"Are you sure, Sari?" Bumblebee asked. "Not that I doubt you, but I heard those new members can be a real pain. Besides, I... " He hesitated for a moment. "I guess I gotta tell you somethi-"

"I'll be okay," She touched his hand with a smile. "We can… talk after this is over, right?" Then, after staring at each other for a moment, she turned on her jetpack and went on her way, along with Blurr and Safeguard.

"Something you would like to share, brother?" Starshine tapped her brother's shoulder. Bee sighed with a small smile.

"Sari and I knew each other ever since we woke up from stasis on Earth… and every moment we had since our first meeting was simply the best. All the things we learned, all the adventures we lived… even the worst moments we gathered…" He clenched his fists, nervous. "She's the most precious friend I have… and I… well..." He chuckled, nervously.

"Oh..." Star understood very well those kind of feelings. "I see well where you're going, brother. And I support your choice."

"For the team it's not a surprise, but I never felt ready to say this… and just when I want to say it..."

"Well, according to you, she always had toughness and attitude. She will be okay..." Star guaranteed, but looked at the horizon as Bee turned his back. "I hope..."

* * *

Using a space bridge, Sari, Blurr and Safeguard arrived at Moonbase One, a bit far from the nearest Energon farm.

"So-you-like-Bumblebee-like-that-I-knew-it-in-fact-I-should-have-guess-since-you-and-him-are-pratically-the-closest-friend-I've-ever-seen-but-you-and-him-never-talked-about-that?"

"Um… Yeah, I do like him… a lot..." Sari rubbed her arm. "And yes, we never really talked it over."

"Hush. Team Chaar," Safeguard alerted, pulling them to a safe hideout. Team Chaar's ship was landed nearby, and there was Strika and Oil Slick supervising the team members.

"Hurry up. We have a lot of fresh Energon here, and I am not willing to leave a drop behind," the leader spoke up, in her slightly distorted voice.

"Illegal Energon taking. Should've know Team Chaar would do that," Safeguard pointed out. They took the opportunity to enter the ship once the biggest members left to get more cubes.

Once they got in, Sari saw Sideswipe and many worker Bots paralyzed, out cold for some reason. Strangrly, without any ropes or stasis cuffs.

"Somehow, this seems too easy..." Sari thought. "Stay alert for anything." She alerted her comrades before sneaking behind some parts of the machinery. She was careful not to draw too much attention from the burgundy red and bronze Con watching over the prisoners.

Sari tip-toed to the control panel and got ready to hack the computers and send the ship's location to the team. But then, something attached to the back of her helmet, causing a powerful shock that knock her down, unsconscious.

A silver bug-like thing stradled from behind her head, and the Con vigilating the prisoners turned to the other Bots.

"They-caught-us!" Blurr gasped, and Safeguard stepped forward to fight. He repeatedly pressed his audio. "Optimus-Prime-come-in-this-is-Blurr-" The agent stopped midsentence when the bug-like thing attacked his face. Before it was removed, it managed to cause damage to the Intelligence Agent's comlink.

"Scrap! Blurr, run! Get team!" Safeguard was about to be forcefully split apart by the Con lifting him up. "Hurry!"

By the time Blurr left, Safeguard was split back to the Jet Twins. Before they could even move, they were quickly paralyzed, knocking them out.

"Strika, the spirits once more were correct. The Autobots will come, and we shall lead them to their demise." the Con warned through his comlink.

* * *

"Ugh, nothing. Something's blocking her signal." Optimus tried contacting Sari, with failed attempt. All he could hear through his audio was static. Meanwhile, Star and Jazz trained a bit of P over M, by training levivating things.

"Focus, girl… find your spark and let it guide your already powerful inner strenght..." Jazz calmly instructed.

"Find my spark…." Star thought, concentratng and breathing slowly. Her star symbol glowed once more, and suddenly, not only the Magnus Hammer but Jazz was levivating thanks to her.

"Uh… guess that's good enough, dig?"

"My apologies." Star blushed ashamed, as she put him down.

"I'll keep this, thank you very much, " Sentinel picked up the hammer, trying to not look nervous. By that time, Blurr arrived at the ship, panting.

"So he does stop to breathe." Bee pointed out.

"Blurr! Are you okay?" She asked, seeing him asking for a moment.

"We-found-Team-Chaar-taking-illegally-big-amounts-of-Energon-however-when-we-tried-pointing-their-location-Sari-got-immobilized-and-Safeguard-stayed-behind-to-help-but-I-am-not-sure-they-will-last-long!"

"I knew this was going to happen. Never send a techno-organic to do a Bot's work," Sentinel commented. Bee turned around, offended.

"Hey! At least, unlike you, she TRIED!"

Optimus was seemingly lost in his thoughts again, remembering something else from his past.

 _Optimus ran from Megatron on a distant, seemingly abandoned planet. As the Decepticon leader landed behind him when he got stuck in the mud, he reverted to robot mode, only to have Megatron almost impaling his sowrd at him._

 _Quickly thinking, he defended himself with his axe, then shoot fire foam at his face. After standing up, taking the mometn, he wrapped up Megatron's legs, and destroyed his cannon. Seeing his enemy on the floor, Optimus was ready to attack with his axe… but wasn't counting on Megatron's sword impaling his chest._

 _"Optimus? You okay?" Elita asked the Bot, as she observed him on the simulated combat device. All the fight was simulated._

 _"Of course he's okay, Elita. It's just simulated combat!" Sentinel calmed her down, as Optimus finished his battle, his VR helmet removed. "And, as usual, you got your skidplate handed to you, buddy."_

 _"I wouldn't be so quick to criticize, Cadet Sentinel!" Ultra Magnus stepped forward. "Cadet Optimus just scored higher than any Autobot in academy history of the Combat Simulator." Sentinel could not believe that, while Elita just stared with a smile at the surprised Optimus. The Magnus then stared with a smile._

 _"I expect great things from you, young Bot." This comment made Optimus very proud of himself._

"Optimus?" Star called Optimus' attention back to reality. "What are we gonna do now?"

Before the team leader could answer, once more, Sentinel had to cut in. "What are you waiting for, Cadet Blurr?! Get out there and go find that techno-organic and the others!"

"Are you suggesting we just sit here and do nothing?! Those are our teammates out there Sentinel!" objected Optimus.

"For your information, I am YOUR leader, you listen to and do what I say, and I say we stay put! Who cares about the techno-organic? It;s her fault for getting involved in Autobot business!"

At this point, Optimus' patience was at its limit. He put up with Sentinel many times but this was the last straw. "Really? Well, let me tell you something, "Magnus": considering the situation we're in, where one of our best members are currently trapped with a bumch of Decepticons, I wouldn't say you're a proper leader!" He took the Magnus hammer from him in a quick move.

"Dear-me-never-seen-Optimus-so-mad," Blurr pointed out.

"I did," Bee pointed out.

"Team, our fellow Bots need our help. Let's transform and roll out!" Optimus warned.

"Come back here!" Sentinel tried imposing his orders once more, but it was far too late, as he watched the team leaving.

* * *

The team passed by the space bridge with Blurr looking around everywhere as he leaded them to where he was.

"Jazz… Uh, Master Jazz..." Star called the Cyber-ninja's attention. "I… I need to know… what happened then? With Prowl? Did he find..."

"No… some bad vibes came to him..."

 _"Prowl returned to the temple, interrupting his optical quest, only to find his master's dojo destroyed, the protoforms stolen… and Master Yoketron about to join the Well of AllSpark. He tried saving him, but one last lesson was given to him before Yoketron went offline._

 _"You must not sacrifice a piece of the future to bring back the past. Someday… when your time comes, you will understand..."_

 _"Prowl was strucked with sadness, and made up his mind on isolatin' himself and trying communicating iwth the AllSpark to complete his training. However, his times of loneliness would end when Optimus' team came around, and saw how lost he were… "_

 _"Do you have any idea what it's like to embark on a path, only to find it so completely twisted and turned that you have no idea where you are?!"_

 _"Oddly enough… I do."_

Star smiled at that. Prowl was lucky to have met Optimus and his team. To her, it seemed that Prowl had a great impact on the whole team.

"Optmus Prime, I order you and all tbe team to return! It is no use to refuse-" Sentinel's call on the audio were cut short by Optimus. He sure didn't fely like obeying him no more.

Seeing he wouldn't get things the way he wanted, Sentinel growled in rage, and transformed to go after them.

Strika's audio receptors heard the sound of landing behind her, but neither her nor the team were surprised.

"Well, if it isn't the leader of Cybertron's greatest heroes," She mocked. "A mere repair Bot."

"Strika, I order you to unleash our teammates and all the prisoners. This Energon does not belong to you!" Optimus readied the Magnus Hammer in his hands.

"Thank Primus Mindwipe predicted your arrival to once more foil our plans. But this time, it will be US emerging victorious," She jeered, clenching both of her massive fists together in battle mode.

Blot started shooting against Starshine, who defended herself with her forcefields. "Not meaning to be rude, but have you ever considering visiting a carwash?"

"Big talk from a mere weak Bot." Blot continued to fire at Starshine.

Oil Slick took the chance when Jazz transformed to vehicle mode. It was just his style wrecking Bots when they were on that form.

"Circuit-Su master, huh? Well, I am lucky to have learned this a longer time ago." He comemnted, as Jazz tried changing back to robot form.

Inside the ship, Bee saw Sari leaned on a table, with the bug-like thing buzzing and bleeping in enthusiasm as it analyzed her structure.

"Let her go!" Bee aimed his Stingers at them. Bolts of electricity got dangerously close to Mindwipe and Scalpel on the table.

"More intruders to be imprisoned. The spirits of fallen Cons will be blissed with this offer. Doctor Scalpel, we shall dissect this techno-organic later." Mindwipe pointed out.

Bee gasped at hearing that. Dissecitng? As in… This made his growl in anger and rush at Mindwipe's direction. The hypnotist Decepticon defended them with a forcefield. Scalpel prepared to attach itself to Bee's head, but Blurr surprised the bug with a swift attack, then threatened it with his saw weapon.

"I-am-srry-but-I-also-have-predicte-you-would-try-that-so-I-agreed-in-whoa!" Then, they were both levivated by Mindwipe.

"You will join your friends in prolonged stasis… and not remember a thing about this." He tried hypnotizing them, but all Bee could look at was Sari laying down unconscious on the table.

Back to the battle, the Autobots seemingly got the upper hand. Optimus knocked Strika down and placed stasis cuffs on her. Star and Jazz agreed on a silent strategy, and leaded Oil Slick and Blot to collide.

In a thunder of electricity, Mindwipe and Scalpel were shot out of the ship, surprising both teams. They all looked over to the ship, seeing the workers running away to safety, Safeguard helping Sideswipe and Blurr and Bumblebee walking out, the Yellow Autobot carrying Sari on his arms.

"If-there-is-one-thing-I-despise-more-than-Decepticons-are-the-devices-they-build!" Blurr pointed out, breaking the immobilizer on the back of her head. Sari immediatly, opened her optics, recovering conscience, and looked over to Bumblebee.

As Sentinel arrived, he could only stare as the team surrounded Team Chaar. The Magnus-in-acting could not help but feel a twinge of envy inside of him at what Optimus accomplished and not him. His mind flashed back to the last moments of Ultra Magnus.

 _Sentinel and Optimus talked with Perceptor. Cliffjumper and Alpha Trion were also present._

 _"I fear the wounds were really fatal...we cannot do much for Ultra Magnus now." He spoke with his monotone voice. "All we can do now is be there for him." The door was opened for Sentinel and Optimus. They entered to see the MAgnus breathing hard._

 _"Ultra Magnus..." Optimus stared at him, feeling his spark breaking. The agonizing Supreme Commander flinched his optics then stared at him._

 _"Optimus… Prime..."_

 _"I'm sorry..." The Prime hesitated. "If only we knew before what was happening, we could have stopped Shockwave before he even-" The Magnus lifted his ahnd slowly and held the Prime's arm._

 _"That… doesn't matter anymore..." Ultra Magnus faintly smiled. "He is locked away and will not cause trouble… but Cybertron still needs… a leader..." Optimus's optics struggled to not leak. "A benign leader… a wise and brave hero… like you..." Sentinel's optics widened in shocking surprise. "You have proven me wrong, Optimus… you became a true hero… unlike any other I have seen… and I can join the Well of AllSpark in peace… knowing I will live Cybertron in good hands… in your hands… Optimus Magnus..."_

 _That was enough for Sentinel. He struggled to not scream in anger, as he left the room, stomping hard. Optimus reamined there, and watched as the Magnus offlined with a smile, his spark fading away. Team Prime's leader bowed his head, sobbing silently._

The Magnus's helm lowered, as he sighed. They didn't even needed him to defeat Team Chaar… but he was still the Magnus… right? Then, something dove on his direction.

"Sky-Byte, get rid of the Magnus and come to our aid!" Strika ordered seeing her comrade holding Sentinel over the cliff they were standing.

"Fear not! I shall free you, my comrades, from the Autobots' servos and let thee decide their punishment for such insolence!" He said, in a poetic manner, as the Magnus struggled to free himself.

Optimus and Starshine looked at each other, and nodded. The leader rushed towards the Decepticon and hit him with the MAgnus Hammer, making him let go of Sentinel. Star then concentrated her early-learned P over M technique, floating him slowly to the ground.

"Well… at least, my head wasn't buried this time." The Magnus pointed out.

"You're welcome." Star pointed out. As Sky-Byte had cuffs palced on his wrists too and was carried along with his arrested comrades, Jazz walked to his student.

"If ya did somethin' so big with so lil' training, just imagine how cool you'll get if ya go on, dig?" This compliment made Star really proud of herself. Then she heard something.

"You truly have potential… Great job..." That voice… again.

* * *

In the Elite Guard ship, Team Chaar was all rounded up into the cells. They were being constantly monitored by the team, who awaited for Optimus and Sentinel to return.

"Now you do not try escaping…" Jetfire pointed out.

"Or we make you hear Blurr until all get in prison," finished Jetstorm.

"I-do-not-understand-why-is-this-a-bad-thing-of-course-my-speech-is-quick-and-I-often-don't-make-sense-but-I-honestly-can't-" Blurr argued until Bumblebee shut him off with his hand.

"Trust me, Blurr. Some things are better to not understand," Bee pointed out. Sari came over then. "Sari! Are you… okay?"

"I feel better… but honestly, I've never been so scared." She blushed. "When I was immobilized, before everything went black, I feared so much not seeing the team again… not seeing you again..." Bumblebee gasped. "I'm just really glad to be here and well… thanks to you all."

"Well yeah, I wouldn't let anything hurt you. After all, you… you're really, um… you and me, we could… uh..." The Yellow Autobot started stuttering. Sari flew over to his face, and shushed him with a small peck on his lips.

"Why not?" she commented, seeing him grin for a short moment, before they pulled each other close for a kiss. The Jet Twins whispered between each other, while Blurr chuckled and Jazz smiled in approval.

Outside the ship, Starshine and Ratchet waited until Sentinel returned to the ship.

"So… " The Medic Bot wanted to know as they walked to Optimus.

"Sentinel finally told the Council about Ultra's last words. Acknowledging that, they decided for now, I will share Supreme Commander responsibilities with him."

"It's about time they gave you a position worth of what you really are," Ratchet chuckled.

"I'm… really honored with that… but you think a "hero" will be able to lead with all of Cybetron's issues, and with a leader that's not even worth its title?"

"Trust be, Optimus… there's no hero like you," Ratchet pointed out.

"I only think it will be… a bit strange to call you "Optimus Magnus," Star pointed out, making Optimus chuckle.

"I honestly prefer Optimus Prime." Ratchet and Star agreed on the statement of the leader, as they all turned around to enter the ship, ending another day, and another accomplished mission.


End file.
